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Post Info TOPIC: Homosexuality (3 - finis)


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Homosexuality (3 - finis)
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They were free to go home. After seventy years of being exiles, of being strangers in a strange land, the Israelites had been given the freedom to go back home and rebuild their life. They went home. Many of them did. But they did not rebuild. They were still broken. They were still defeated. They road had been paved for their victory, for their abundant life, but they did not walk down it.

Years passed, and they continued to live in defeat. Decades passed, and they continued to wallow in misery. Heck, an entire lifetime went by. And then something changed. Two men, Ezra and Nehemiah, came along and completely revitalized the nation. What happened? What changed? How does this have anything to do with Christianity and homosexuality?

Perspective. The nation was so caught up in looking at who they were, at who they had become, that they had lost sight of who they could be. More importantly at who their God was. I was listening to a sermon on Nehemiah 9. The preacher was going in an entirely different direction than what I noticed, but what I noticed completely rocked me. This chapter is a prayer. In this prayer I saw: You alone are, You give, You found, You made, You kept, You saw, You sent, You knew, You made, You divided, You hurled, You led, You came down, You spoke, You gave, You made known, You gave, You brought, You told, You promised, You forgave, You didn't despise, You didn't abandon, You gave, You didn't withold, You gave, You made, You brought, You subdued, You handed, You gave, You abandoned, You heard, You delivered, You warned, You were patient, You handed, You didn't abandon, You are, You have been, You gave, and You give. This was all in one prayer. It was a corporate prayer, a group prayer, by all the leaders of Israel. Ezra and Nehemiah led the people into an abundant, victorious life by focusing them back on God.

There are two ways to know who a person is. One way is through their genetics, through their biology. A person cannot be evil based on how they were born. Anyone who says differently is no better than Hitler who decided that all Jews were evil, hell bound, and worthy of death. I can't help the fact that I slowly started balding back in junior high. John Doe can't help the fact that he was born with (or received prenatal) a biological tendency to be attracted to the same sex, or a 90% chance of having a heart attack by this twenty-fifth birthday, or a mind greater than Einstein's.

The other way you can know a person is measured by what they do. Me being 5'10" (on a good day) has nothing to do with my public speaking ability. That is something I studied, developed, trained and practiced over time to develop. George Bush having a funny looking face and a Texas accent has nothing to do with him being president. He worked hard to steal, I mean earn, that office. A great poker player isn't made by the cards he is dealt. He is made by how he plays them.

Do I believe homosexuality is a sin? Absolutely not. Do I believe homosexual acts are? Yes. But so is gluttony and I can't even number how many fat preachers I've seen in my time. I believe laziness is a sin and the director of Home Missions for a major denomination said that the laziness of our pastors is the primary reason so many of our churches are, and stay so small in number. I believe pride is sin. Yet it is one I do daily. Since I continue in it does that mean I am destined for hell? What about lying? Apathy? Self-righteousness? Bigotry? Envy? Lust? Anyone who says that they do not struggle in at least one of these is lying to themselves and everyone else.

But I'm not here to point out anyone's faults. We all have them. But will we be like the Israelites and continue to wallow in them (or those of our neighbors), or will we instead turn our focus where it should be: on God and on what He can do with us instead of our faults? The gay community and culture has much it can offer the church. But instead of embracing and working with it, the church has marginalized, and ostracized them. They have made an easy scapegoat through which we can divert the attention and focus the guilt from our own many faults and foibles. So who has sinned? I have. Who is at fault? I am. And to the homosexuals I know both inside and outside the church I say, "I'm sorry."



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Josue

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These words of yours have been my thoughts exactly for quite some time! (as I said earlier: I used to live a homosexual life--I left it five years ago--so I have had plenty of time to ponder the issue)

Now, what is your opinion of rebuking people for their sin, because I believe there is most definitely a place for it. How do you balance turning one's focus "on God and on what He can do with us" with correction and rebuking?

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ften, focusing someone on God can be it's own version of rebuking (or rather, exhorting). If I have an authority or an earned place of trust in a person's life, then I will do so... gently. If asked my opinion I will give it, again gently. If not, unless I have a very clear mandate from God then it is not my place. But if I can successfully point someone to Christ and let Him deal with the rest, then the peripheral issues will usually take care of themselves.

There's an organization called Pure Life ministries who use that concept as their key in dealing with men who have some form of sexual addiction. They get them to fall back in love with God no matter how long it takes before they even bring up the issue for which the person came seeking help. The same concept is the secret to the success of Teen Challenge International. That is why they have a near 90% lifetime success rate when most other programs are considered successful if they can keep their rate over 15%.

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Laura

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I don't think it's our right to pass religious judgement (God's job), especially when something isn't illegal.

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Josue

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Galations 6:1

It isn't about passing "judgement".

Laura, check out the Greek word "Katartizo" which can be found in that verse.



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Aimee Faison Masen

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Hey B.J.

I really appreciate you taking the time to explore an issue that has had so many people at odds with each other. I think it is truly unfortunate how often people who are seeking the truth and seeking the Lord are unfairly stopped at the doors of the church because of certain behaviors they display, or certain habits they have, or simply because of the way they look. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." He also said (when questioned about why he was eating with "sinners"), "it is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick." He purposely surrounded Himself everyday with people that needed truth, healing, restoration and forgiveness. It was His desire to meet them where they were, because they needed to know that there was nothing they could do to earn salvation, it was a gift that they could choose to accept or reject. They did not need to "clean up" before coming to Him--they simply needed to submit to Him and his leading.

I think you hit the nail right on the head when you said that gluttony, etc. are also sins that each of us deal with on daily basis that for so many of us are considered to be "less of a sin" in God's eyes. We were all born into a fallen world, and because of that we are, by default, all sinners according to Romans 3:23. Therefore, we all have specific tendencies/temptations towards certain sinful behaviors/thoughts and Satan knows just how to push our buttons. It is our job, as followers of Christ, to daily put to death the sinful man and choose Christ and His ways. Will we fall? Of course. Will we see others fall? Of course. Is it our job to pass judgement? No. Is it our job, as a fellow brother or sister, to gently remind them of the truth and help them overcome these tendencies/temptations? Absolutely. The key word, however, is "gently".

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Lynnea

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I find it difficult to pass judgement when I'm such a sinner myself. I seek to be all God wants me to be but fail left and right. I put aside one sin and God points out another. How can I expect Godly perfection from someone else, when I myself, am unable to attain it? I grew up Nazarene and the old school Nazarenes believe in something called "entire santification". What they taught was that at some point a person could be entirely santified and no longer have the desire to sin. Thus the Nazarene Theme Song "Holiness Unto the Lord". After college, I found this very difficult to grasp. It seemed to be a belief that ultimately would keep people from confessing there sin unless absolutely necessary in order to keep the appearance of righteousness. The first step to forgiveness is to admit your sinfulness but how can you do that if you're entirely sanctified? Anyway, my point is that I agree with you. I am sorry for my own judgemental, self-righteous past. I think the best thing we all can do is to continually seek to become more like Christ.

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God TV

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MY THOUGHTS ON HOMOSEXUALITY:

I HAVE A ROOMATE WHO IS
HE'S BEEN THE BEST PERSON I HAVE EVER LIVED WITH!
I HAVE LIVED WITH MANY...HE SHARES FOOD WHEN I RAN OUT(COOKS FOR ME)
WHEN UNEXPECTED EVENTS OCCURED...HE HELD ME DOWN BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE THE $ TO DO SO MYSELF.
I COULD WRITE ON MORE, BUT BOTTOM LINE IS I DIDN'T HAVE ANYWHERE ELSE TO GO WHEN I FIRST CAME HERE, IT'S ONLY GOD I CAN REALLY THANK FOR PROVIDING ME WITH THE SHELTER WHEN I WAS CLOSE TO BEING HOMELESS AND A DECENT PERSON TO LIVE AMONGST.
YES I SAID DECENT!
HOMOSEXUALS ARE DECENT PEOPLE!
AND I DON'T HAVE ANY ATTRACTION TO MEN( THE THOUGHT LITERALLY MAKES ME SICK) AND I SEEM TO ATTRACT GAY PEOPLE. I HAVE HAD MANY EXPERIENCE/INTERACTIONS WITH THEM. MOST OF THE ONES I KNEW WERE GOOD-HEARTED PEOPLE. I DO ADMIT THAT I SEE A LOT OF DEMONS IN THEIR MIDST: DRUGS, VANITY, GREED, AND MANY OTHERS. I DON'T SEE THAT LIFESTYLE AS A HEALTHY ONE. I WOULDN'T ADVISE ANYONE TO TURN IN THAT DIRECTION, JUST LIKE I WOULDN'T ADVISE ANYONE TO ASSOCIATE WITH THOSE OTHER DEMONS. I DON'T KOW IF I AGREE WITH IT AS BEING A GENETIC THING. MY UNCLE WAS GAY AND I SAW HIM BECOME A SERIOUS CHRISTIAN. THIS HAPPEND TO MANY OF THEM I SEE AND WHEN YOU HIT ROCK BOTTOM AND NEED TO FIND A WAY OUT OF THIS CHAOTIC WORLD...GOD WILL SAVE YOU! THAT LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT IT IS WRONG. I DON'T SEE A HAPPY LIFE FOR HOMOSEXUALS. THEY WILL PROBABLY GO THRU PLENTY OF PUNISHMENT AND RECIEVE A LOT OF CONSEQUENCE FOR THEIR ACTIONS. BUT, HOW CAN I SAY. I HAVE RECIEVED A LOT OF PUNISHMENT MYSELF AND NEVER BEEN GAY BY ANY MEANS. THE CHURCHES HAVE ALL KINDS OF SINNERS PASSING THROUGH THEIR DOORS. I WOULDN'T OSTRACIZE THEM. I WILL CONTINUE TO TREAT HUMANS AS HUMANS AND I WILL RESPECT THOSE WHO SHOW ME RESPECT.

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