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

Freedom of Speech

In America we have laws that were set up to give us freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Other countries are not this way, and our country may not always have the same laws. Even I wonder how long it will be legal to openly speak about my beliefs, but what I'd like to remind you is that if you are a Christian, you are always free to speak the truth and the gospel. We are not free to speak things that would dishonor God, but we have freedom to obey God and honor him in every aspect of our lives. Remember that the apostles were often told to stop proclaiming the gospel, but they continued to do so. We must obey God rather than men. We do have to love and honor all men, but our highest authority is God. We must obey him first and other authorities second. Click Here for more thoughts on submission to government leaders.

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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.

This Year's Election

What is the Christian's Responsibility?
I don't know who you voted for, if you did vote, or even if you are able to vote. I commend all the Christians who voted against abortion and gay unions. Every eligible christian should have voted this way because we are bound by scripture to do so. Christian liberty is not a matter of freedom to do anything and everything we please. We are freed from slavery to sin and freed to do all that is in harmony with God's word. Scripture warns against using our freedom as a covering for evil(1 Peter 2:16, Galatians 5:13). We shouldn't vote with prejudice's to a different race. We should not vote for someone because of their amiable personalities or skilled speeches. We should vote for someone because they uphold the word of God as the standard by which to rule their own private lives and their country. If no such candidate is found, then as Christians we should vote for the candidate that at least upholds the constitution. If there is still no one who does this, than we must vote  for the candidate who has the most biblical principals and supports biblical laws. In this case it was Mitt Romney. Although he is not a Christian, he is pro-life and he stands for biblical marriage. Romney did not win though. So how should we view this election?

What Does This Say About America as a Nation?
If the votes were tallied honestly, then it is evident that our country no longer values what God values.
We must pray for revival and faithfully preach the gospel to all men. The president is a good mirror of America because she chose him. As the church this should motivate us to share the gospel when we see the fallen state of our nation! We need God's grace and intervention.

How Should Christians View Purposeful Miscounting and Voter Fraud?
The communist Tyrant and mass murderer Josef Stalin said" He who votes decides nothing. He who counts decides everything." This voices well the fear that many Americans feel. They feel that it is pointless to vote because their vote will not count. How should Christians view voter fraud and purposeful miscounting? Please consider these scriptures.
Proverbs 16:33 " The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord."
Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is like channel's of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes."
Psalm 33:10-11"The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates  the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of his heart from generation to generation"
Proverbs 16:9 " The mind of a man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps."
Ephesians 1:11"Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will."
John 19:11a " Jesus answered,'you would have no authority over me unless it had been given from you from above...'"
We can clearly see that neither the one who counts the votes, nor the one who votes elects our our president, but God elects the president. We are still responsible to vote, but God ultimately makes every decision.

Should Christians Submit To Non-Christian Leaders?
Where should we look for answers? In the Bible! First Peter 2:13-14 says"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right." Authority is good. We should submit to every human institution unless they prohibit you from doing something God requires or require you to do something God prohibits. In Acts 4:19-20 "But Peter and John answered and said to them, ' Whether  it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.'" In this passage Peter and John had to obey God rather than men. When forced to choose, always obey God, but if you are able to obey your leader and God then do so. In Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles said "We must obey God rather than men."

Will We Respond in Fear or Faith?
Over and over in scripture we are commanded not to fear. Perhaps You fear the possible persecution to come. This all boils down to fearing man. In an earlier post I spoke about this and will not focus on fearing man in this article. Instead, I will focus on how to overcome fear.

 Here is one of my favorite passages on fear: Philippians 4:6-8 says "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by  prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And The peace which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." There are four points I would like to make about this text. First of all, we are commanded not to be anxious. Secondly, the first step to overcoming our fears is to give them to God in prayer. Thirdly, we must rejoice and give thanks to God. And lastly, we must redirect our thoughts to what is good.

If we give our fears to God in prayer we no longer have to carry them. If we are thankful, that helps us to remember all the ways God has been faithful in past, and that gives us courage to face the future. If we redirect our thoughts onto good things, we don't leave room for Satan to work.

Conclusions
God is faithful! Psalm 2:12b "Blessed are all who take refuge in him." I would like to end with this passage, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ' For Your Sake We Are  Being Put To Death All Day Long; We Were Considered As Sheep To Be Slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39