Gay Marriage Arguments Divide Supreme Court Justices - NYTimes.com

Gay Marriage Arguments Divide Supreme Court Justices - NYTimes.com.

Nothing will remove the 'stain of unworthiness'--no law, no smiling faces, no lifetime commitment, because God's word and standards are clear and true. He designed us with roles and a purpose-male and female He created us. We are made in His image and likeness, and being happy or feeling good cannot stamp out His holy order and standards. The whole world can approve, but God never will. People can (and have) rewritten the Bible, and it does not change the truth that homosexuality is an aberration of what is right in God's eyes.

There is hope for those trapped in this lifestyle. Many struggling with same-sex attraction are not assuaged by all the cries for acceptance. Deep inside many of these individuals feel the trouble and will never be whole because they are living in rebellion to God's design for males and females.

If you have stumbled upon this post as someone struggling with same-sex attraction, realize God can help your desires change. He brings freedom from all sin, and those who keep trying to say homosexuality is not a sin are the liars.

Let God be true, and every man a liar.

Romans 1:18-32

Unbelief and Its Consequences

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth ^[l]in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident ^[m]within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not ^[n]honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and ^[o]crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for ^[p]a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed ^[q]forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is ^[r]unnatural, ²⁷ 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 ^[s]indecent acts and receiving in ^[t]their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit ^[u]to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, ^[v]haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

 

God, the Gospel, and the Gay Challenge — A Response to Matthew Vines –AlbertMohler.com

God, the Gospel, and the Gay Challenge — A Response to Matthew Vines – AlbertMohler.com.

Al Mohler can have some worthwhile words to consider.

Matthew 7:1-23 NASB

Encouraging words to live biblically, even if you are the only one or of a small few. It is freeing to not need the approval of other people. The older I get, the more situations arise where it is clear that if someone hasn't actually experienced much of what we have, they cannot see things from our perspective. Ideally, everyone realizes that and it helps us all be slower to criticize.

Seek God's approval first, err on the Lord's side, and He will go before you. I'm asking Him to fight my battles...

For good teaching, consider www.gty.org. A man gifted to exhort--John MacArthur.

Matt 7:1-23 Judging Others

1“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.      6“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Prayer and the Golden Rule

7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9“Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10“Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

12“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.


The Narrow and Wide Gates 

13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.


A Tree and Its Fruit

15“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20“So then, you will know them by their fruits.

21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22“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?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Who to Offend?

Sometimes we are laboring over a painful decision that may offend those whom we love if we say no.

If it is relevant, perhaps the question to ask is: "Will God be offended if I say yes."

Lord, help those of us who follow you do so with integrity, wisdom and caring.

Friendship

I've realized friendship is a luxury some cannot afford. It takes time and regular effort. Those in full-time ministry are so focused on what their mission for the Lord is, their friends are usually their husbands and co-laborers. The last ten years has changed my perspective and need in this area greatly. It hasn't been without pain, but time has had a way of showing me that we all go through seasons.

There can be years where we are a friend to those who need it, giving more than is received. Then there are times we receive while others give to us. There are times we would prefer to be alone than continue doing the work, and there are times we do the work we can, but it really doesn't amount to much.

I remember being so insecure as a younger woman; I wore my number of close friends as a means of significance. It seemed to me that those around me would see my worth if there were many people I knew well and who knew me well.

But that is just a foolish endeavor that ends up taking too much time from the areas God has placed before us.This realization is one reason I would never want to be younger than I am again.

Friends come and go--jobs change, people move, people die, people change. If we are moving continually closer to God, the only way friendships can remain in the same way is if everyone is moving along at roughly the same pace. The intimacy in family relationships follows this same logic.

In evaluating our lives to see where we are with the Lord, it is one of the things we often find ourselves needing to cull. He provides the strength, and it allows us to teach our children to let no one and nothing stand between us and our Savoir.

Even when people love each other, this is how it often goes.

Family Routines

There is something connecting about having regular Family Nights. I didn't understand the value in them when we started our Friday night pizza night; the kids were quite young. Thankfully my husband understood and thus began the W family Friday Night Family Night. The kids do not like to miss it, though sometimes we have their friends join in. It is the one night we watch something together and we have special beverages: bought soda, iced tea, fresh lemonade, or homemade soda. It is a time to make sure the five of us are together relaxing and recapping our week or just that day. Friday's are our lighter school day since stopping CC, and this family time is essential. One thing I've observed and have not liked is how busy homeschooling life can be.  It seems the families we used to spend time with really grew apart as the kids reached middle school and high school, with everyone going in a different direction. If we aren't purposeful in how we spend time with our kids, we can end up like so many families we all see around us: the kids really are not close to one another and the family unit is not that important as high school approaches.

I've had parents tell me, for years, 'Just wait until your child reaches ____ age'. This was in reference to how they will be obsessed with certain music and musical bands, or how they will want to be with friends all the time. I had my doubts, but kept it in mind. This began back when my oldest was in 6th grade. It came from people I knew well and whose family life I didn't want to emulate exactly, even though we did spend a lot of time together and educated in a similar fashion. Here we are two years later, and what I have seen is that what parents expect is often what happens. How we encourage our kids to spend time, and the values we demonstrate, will be played out in their lives.

For some, being influenced by others and spending very little time together as 'just us' (meaning the core family) feels very fulfilling. It embraces the goals of the parents, and time with 'just us' feels empty. For others, the family unit and family values are what are tantamount. Other people joining the fold happens rarely. I think both approaches have their good and bad points. The main thing is to realize how you are living will impact your kids later, particularly the teen years. It is a shame to see parents lament that their kids never want to be home, and yet, they've always encourage a more outward/others focus.

Personalities surely come in to play, with everyone involved :).

Difficult Times Will Come

Difficult Times Will Come-

1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3 New American Standard Bible

Part 1:

The verses that have inspired me to write tonight are to be found in 2 Timothy 3:5-7: Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power....so many today find 'power' in many things that are not godly. In this era of the Internet, everyone writing is a self-proclaimed expert on this remedy or that formula. Mysticism has crept in to the church in various forms to the point people find themselves worrying about missing 'this' secret cure or 'that' key to why life is out of control. Many women are drawn in to this, and without discernment, the waters of godliness can quickly become murky. Are we sure we can determine what is a 'form' of godliness vs. true godliness? I can assure you of this, being convinced of something isn't necessarily the way to tell, nor is having a 'personal conviction'.

 

It was not long ago I asked my husband, who God has graciously given the gifts of wisdom and discernment to, about whether people can have false 'personal convictions'. He seemed a tad surprised at my asking, immediately responding that yes, of course, and that is how most cults begin--a false personal conviction. That gave me pause, and made sense. We need God's word to guide and direct us.

Part 2:

"weak women captivated, always learning but never coming to the knowledge of truth"

...this is my loose paraphrase but it encompasses what I long to warn Christian women about. We are often weak minded. We are easily led astray. Psychological reasoning resonates with us and we justify sometimes questionable ideas because part of it may make good, common sense. We women often lack the logical side of thinking, and if we are extroverted, we do not think deeply, enough, seeking the truth from God's word. I'm not down on women: I am one and I'm raising two. But I see what the gentler sex struggles with and the older I get the pattern has not changed, especially with young women. I'm also not down on extroverts, but the reality is that introverts are the deeper thinkers among us. 

It is not men of homeschooling wives who spend hoards of hours pouring over various methods of education and various curricula for YEARS on end-- debating, questioning, critiquing...it is women, and usually those that can talk for days about such things struggle to actually "come to the knowledge of the truth". Do the hard work, pick something and do it, every day.

 

In closing, please be wise and careful with who you get advice from and who you spend a lot of time with. 

A Global Holocaust Rembrance Event

http://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/498h2terro">http://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/498h2terro

Remembering the 6 million Jews heinously murdered. We must not pretend the world loves Jews now, and we must remember how Hitler came to power.

In the World and Not of It

Every so often it can be discouraging when we are actively living separate from society in various ways. When living biblically as a family with a strong husband leading, flack can be caught from those who simply do not understand the formula and somehow think we as wives are missing out. People can intimate that the children are also missing out. Ideas on suppression seem to fill the minds of those who find out we are full-time homemakers, striving to raise children who are content with a life centered around church, serving others and family.

All it takes during these times of discouragement or loneliness is a little interaction with the world.

The world has no real answers for happiness, order, or peace. The world has drugs to get to sleep and pills to awaken, siblings who fight like newly integrated chickens to an established flock, parents who are seriously stressed over how sporting events their children participate in turn out, and strange views on government and society. They exhaust themselves in looking for who to blame, how to get even, and how to make sure they get what they feel entitled to. There is rampant mistrust, a lack of order, and far more stress than there needs to be. Homes where Dad isn't the leader have wives that carry more of a burden on their shoulders than they were designed to carry, and yet, those ladies are the loudest voices of opposition to 'letting him lead'.  People who have raised children that we would not want living under our roof will be among the first to wonder at our decision to homeschool, particularly through high school. Parents who are unhappy with how their family life is, or was, will doubt the amount of 'sheltering' we are doing with our own children. Even if it isn't said outright, we can all feel it when it is implied. There is no lack of confidence from some people in advising, even if their life or child rearing results are lackluster at best or an utter failure at worst.

I think this reality is one reason we are to find wise counselors as Christians. Do not go to the woman whose husband isn't a godly leader for advice on submitting. Do not go to the unbeliever for ANY significant advice if it can be avoided; their entire framework for living should be quite different from ours. The friend who doesn't budget is not the person to go to for spending advice or if we are struggling with wanting something we really can't afford. How we handle money is a huge indicator of where our heart is. The New Testament is wrought with passages about finances. If we are striving to be disciplined in general, do not go to the undisciplined person. Discipline equals maturity, and this has little to do with age much of the time. As we tell our children: govern yourself or be governed.

Being 'in the world and not of it' requires choosing to be influenced by carefully selected individuals, as well as making choices that are in line with God's standards for His children. We can be the close friend of many people, but not just anyone should be our close friend. Why? Because regardless of the godly standards we start out with, when we are close to people who are not submitting to the Holy Spirit and love them, we will become more like them-which is not more like our Father. This reality has caused more than a few Christians to compromise on biblical standards. Many Christians lack wisdom and discernment.

We can not be afraid to disappoint a friend or family member by standing on principles which please the Lord. No lost person is truly won to the Lord by a compromising Christian--it is OK if we can't discuss ungodly TV shows, un-glorifying music, immodest yet popular clothing etc. God will use the person sold out to Him to reach the lost, not the person who looks so much like the world it is hard to tell who is who in a line up.

~Ann

Why Religions are Dangerous

I was speaking to a pseudo Catholic today, and she was very clear in telling me she doesn't agree with several things in the church, but she does agree with some things. The aspects she doesn't like are why she no longer attends church. Sensing I would love to delve in to this, she announced she is still a Catholic and will always be a Catholic. I said nothing.

I know this is not a rare story. And it is one reason I'm passionate about reaching Catholics with the saving gospel. Religions that are steeped in family tradition, guilt, ritual, and anything else other than the Word of God entrap people and inoculate them against the gospel. Just as today's social-justice/gospel churches, people in the Catholic church hear some of the truth, so they think they have heard all of the truth.

People who have heard it all do not need any new information.

Do you see how this inoculates against the truth?

We are all most open to information when we are pretty sure we do not know anything about the subject matter, but on topics we think we are well versed in, we can only listen politely for a short time.

False churches do not make the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ tantamount. They do not uphold the Bible as the book the faithful ought to shape their lives around. If people were always taught that, they would seek out a place of worship that pointed them to God and Christ, and of course that would mean they would eventually see the falsehood in their religious institution, which surely has its reasons for carefully designed methods of keeping people from leaving. While Catholic mass isn't held in Latin everywhere anymore, it sure was used for a long time. 1 Cor 14?

How to identify a true church amongst all of the false churches?

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-294/7-Foundational-Elements-of-a-True-Church-Part-1 you can read or listen

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-295/7-Foundational-Elements-of-a-True-Church-Part-2?Term=7%20Foundational%20Elements%20of%20a%20True%20Church you can read or listen

~Ann

The Essence of Marital Submission

Biblical submission in many ways can be summed up in this: learn what your husband wants--how the kids are to be raised and how he wants the home run--and then carry it out to the best of your ability. Talk over areas of difference, and for men who aren't very verbal, learn to closely observe him so you learn what he really wants. It isn't a valid excuse if a husband is quiet and leads in a more subtle fashion. We're to submit to his wishes, not just what he says. Not all men are the domineering type so are not going to give 'directives' (thankfully, that would be tough for some of us), and many will let the wife run the show completely because sin is attractive to them, too. Just as we ladies are more than happy to drive the way the kids are raised and the way the school and home are run, men are often prone to let them, thinking it isn't going to be their fault how things turn out (or they are just lazy). He is the leader and the one responsible before God though, we know this from the Word. If he delegates, terrific, but let's make sure it is delegation and not abdication. We can encourage godly leadership from our husbands if we'll slow down and give them the opportunity--to fail and to succeed. Phew, a task we can only accomplish by the strength of the Holy Spirit in us.

This concept is anathema to carnal Christians or to the unsaved, but it is the pathway to blessings from God for the Christian wife. Be careful who you are friends with. It is not difficult to get domineering as a wife if you have friends who are. Like all things, if you want to be skinny, hang with skinny people and do what they do (seriously, I need to do this!). What happened to 'Fit At 40'?! I digress.

Love,

J Dub