Legalized Gay Marriage

Standards
Laws are important because they set a standard for people of right and wrong. My heart is grieved that our nation now has laws that support gay marriage. I am saddened because our legislature has decided to set their own standards of good and evil. They have decided to do what is right in their own eyes.

That is exactly what Adam and Eve decided to do. They rejected God's ideas and decided to do what they thought was right. Their disobedience brought destruction, judgement, and death. All throughout history, man has tried to do things his own way, but God does not change His standards to suit our desires. Our country's change in laws have not changed God's standards.

Who's Been Rejected?
Gays and lesbians have been pushing for legalized same sex marriage and claim that they have been rejected by our government and not given their rights by law. However, they have not been rejected, they have rejected God and want to continue in their disobedience. No one has a right to do what is wrong. Legalizing same sex marriage was not a matter of neglected rights being restored; it was a matter of our legislature neglecting the Word of God. God's gave us laws to show us our sin and to show us His character. Our legislature has essentially denied man's sinfulness and God's character by this decision.

The Real Issue
However, the issue of gay marriage is not first a legal issue. Gay marriage is an issue in individual hearts. When people reject God, they live life their own way. They create laws to suit themselves, and sometimes they even create a God to suit themselves like the Isrealites did. My heart is not only grieved by the law that was just passed, my heart is grieved for the people who are living in darkness and who do not know God. It is my prayer that God would bring revival among them and change their hearts.

Polluted and Attacked
People's view of sexuality is warped and polluted in many ways. There are many distortions of Biblical sexuality. God created sex to be between one man and woman in a lifelong marriage relationship. Sex is a gift that he created to bring joy and intimacy to marriage. However, our culture accepts sex before marriage, sex with others while you are married, sex with multiple people, sex with the same gender, along with pornography. All of these are distortions of good sex as God intended it. Biblical sex is being attacked in many ways. It is constantly attacked by media and our culture, and now it has been attacked by our country's legislature.  The only way to gaurd our minds against a polluted view of sex is to renew our minds with God's Word (Rom. 12:2).

My Main Concern
As a Christian, I am concerned about the legalization of gay marriage. However, I am less concerned about this law than what this law reflects about the state of people's hearts in our country. People's souls are at stake. People are rejecting the Word of God and aproving of sin. People are attacking God's truth because they love darkness and the light exposes them. People are broken and have a broken view of sexuality and everything else.

There Is Hope!
Thanks be to God that we are not without hope. God can change the hearts of our people in our nation. When people's hearts are changed, we will then see a change in legislature. Join with me in praying for God to send revival to our nation. Pray that people would turn from their sins and stop living their own way. Pray that God would pour out His Spirit and bring men out of darkness into light. Pray that His Word would be the standard we set, that we would not lean on our own understanding, and that men would aknowledge God in all their ways. Then, be a part of the gospel spreading and share it!

By His Grace,
Dallas

Semper Reformanda

Our culture is constantly bombarding us with media. The question is,"How are we to navigate through our media-saturated culture in a Christ-like way?" Have we been captivated by the media all around us? Are we a slave to it, or do we use it to advance God's kingdom? Are we simply being entertained, or are we actually being edified? Is there too much media in our lives? Do we need to cut back on how much we use it? Are we constantly on guard against Satan's schemes, or do we shut our brains off and just relax when we turn on the computer, radio, or TV?

I really appreciated the message of Captivated, a wonderful film that caused me to evaluate the way I use media in my own life. Its message convicted me. I hope you take the time to watch Captivated. Do not just watch it, but evaluate your life and ask the Holy Spirit to show you if you need to make any changes in this area of your life. Semper reformanda is a Latin term that means "always reforming." Every area of our lives must be reformed to the glory of God. May we glorify God in our media choices; may we be conformed to the image of Christ; and may we never stop reforming!

 

How Ironic

Is it Ironic ?

"Some $1.042 billion was spent online during Black Friday, a 26% increase on Black Friday 2011," according to statistics from comScore. Is it ironic that that Black Friday occurs right after Thanksgiving? I think not. We are in Satan's kingdom right now, and he wants to replace our thankfulness with a greedy and consumeristic spirit. As Christians, we are not citizens of this world.

Things to Keep in Mind:

*1 Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war on the against the soul".

*Philippians 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord."

*1 Timothy 6:6-11 "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness."

A Heart Issue, Not a Spending Issue

It is not wrong to shop on Black Friday. The question we must ask ourselves is, “What are we pursuing?” In which kingdom are we storing our treasure? Scripture tells us that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. Are we pursuing the American dream–riches and a luxurious lifestyle–or are we pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness? We must examine our hearts because that is where the problems really begin. You could refrain from spending even a penny on Black Friday and still have a greed issue in your heart. Proverbs 4:23 reminds us, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." We should be thankful for what God has already given us, content where He has us, and willing to share. We can trust He will provide for us in the future.

A Surrendered Attitude

Job had a beautiful attitude even after he had lost practically everything. Job 1:21-22 “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said,'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.' Through all this Job did not sin, nor did he blame God." We should also have this attitude. God is the Giver, but He can also take away. He is the One who makes our very hearts beat, but He can also take our life at any time. Have you surrendered everything to God? Is there anything you are holding back? It could be your plans, your possessions, or your very life. Just know that when you put something in God's hands, it could not be in a better place.

Worthless

   All around us there are things to see, do, hear, taste, and touch. Sometimes we observe these things on accident, and sometimes we set them before ourselves purposely. For instance, when you walk into a store you may glance at a television that is playing as you walk by and turn your gaze away if it is not God honoring. If you, however, rent a movie and watch it that would be setting it before you. We cannot always control what we encounter; however, we can control what we set before our eyes.

  The Psalmist declares in psalm 101:3, " I will set no worthless thing before my eyes..." I find it interesting that he used the word worthless. In Hebrew the word translated as worthless actually means: "Without profit, worthlessness, (by extension) destruction,wickedness."How does this verse apply to us when evaluating what we put before ourselves? What sort of questions should we use to find out whether we should put something before us? When we evaluate what we are going to put before ourselves our question should be neither, " Does this have anything bad in it?"nor, " Does this have any thing good in it?". Here's why. It is very challenging to find movie, magazine, or book (besides the Bible) devoid of anything bad because corrupted people create corrupted matterials; on the other hand, just because there is one good thing in something, that does not make it valuable. The question we should ask is, "Is this valuable?".

  It is true that there may be nothing inherently wrong with playing a race car video game, but is there any value in it? Not all things are a sin, but not all things are a good use of our time. Our culture has given too much room for time wasting and labeled it entertainment. In Ephesians 5:15-17 we read " Therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." You can almost hear Paul's urgency through the verses on this page. The days are evil. Satan is seeking whom he may devour. He wants to destroy you and use you in the destruction of others. We are in a war. It may not be a sin to be entertained, but we are on the front lines and cannot afford to be distracted. This is an old military tactic. You distract your enemy and sneak in on them. Do you not think Satan is doing just that? He has got us so distracted that we do not even have a hand on our weapons! Far too often, we are just relaxing and amusing ourselves! We will give an answer to God for how we use the time He has given us; therefore, we must not waste it!

  We should avoid wasting time by not setting worhtless things before us and seeking to glorify God in whatever we do. It is time for reformation in this area of our lives! We must be intentional with what God has given us including the time He's entrusted with us. This life is but a breath, but let it be a fragrant aroma to the Lord.

                                                                                 Your Servant in Christ,
                                                                                           Dallas