OT and Homosexuality

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: ReasonLogic (Original Message) Sent: 4/30/2006 9:42 PM


I was looking over the refutes of God saying that it's wrong to be homosaexual and I was noticing that the author quotes from the OT and also the NT but I wanted to stay on the OT for a while.......if the OT derived or is close to Judaism......was/is it right in the Jewish Customs to be Homosexual? Remember: Some of what you quoted on the Left Hand Side bars are from the OT also.

Be Blessed!
JC

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Rev. Jim Cunningham Sent: 5/3/2006 10:40 AM



Hi JC,

The Old Testament and New Testament constitute one book: The Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. The two cannot be separated. Every single doctrine which Jesus and the Apostles taught was from the "Old" Testament, which the writers of the New Testament repeatedly called "Scripture" and "the Word of God".

While there are some new "bible" versions on the market today (such as the satanic NIV) which include anti-gay words based on the personal opinions of the editors without any manuscript support, neither the Old or New Testaments contain laws against homosexual identity. There are some branches of Judaic customs which both accept and reject homosexual identity, but it should be noted that "customs" or "traditions" are not the same as Biblical Law, as Jesus Himself said, "You make the Word of God to be of no effect by your traditions."

Many people say that being gay is against God, when the actual truth is that there is no biblical support for this. It is typical for a person that dislikes the idea of homosexuality to say, that since he personally dislikes homosexuality, then therefore God must dislike it, too. Such people project their personal thoughts and feelings onto God, yet God said that He neither thinks or acts like such men. God's thoughts are not motivated by lust or sexual preference, so God remains unbiased in His perfect presentation of His law. And the Law of God is clear, as recorded by Paul, that,

"Where no law is, there is no transgression."
-Romans 4:15

AND

"Sin is not imputed when there is no law."
-Romans 5:13

You cannot break a law that doesn't exist. You cannot be condemned for something that is not against the law. You cannot be guilty of breaking a law that has never been made. There are Biblical laws against fornication, adultery, incest, and against a heterosexual man or woman who leave their nature to fornicate with others of the same sex, but there is no law condemning homosexual identity or homosexual marriage or sex within a homosexual marriage.

Love in Christ Jesus of Nazareth,
Rev. Jim

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: ReasonLogic Sent: 6/16/2006 6:46 PM
Let me rephrase:

Since we know that the Old Testament is based on Judaism:

If this practice of Homosexuality was already established within the Old Testament, where is it established in Judaism?

Be Blessed!
JC

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Manager Rev. Jim Sent: 6/18/2006 3:31 PM
Hi JC,

Glad to hear back from you.

Actually, the Old Testament is not based on Judaism, but the other way around. Judaism started with the Word of God, but Judaism, like Roman Catholicism, has added many things, including tradition which is unbiblical, and even outright satanic. As I mentioned before, some branches of Judaism are supportive of homosexual identity while others are against it. There are many denominations in Judaism, just as there are in Chrsitianity. The religious traditions of Judaism and Christianity are not always compatible with the Bible. Religion is man-made. The Word of God is God-made and has nothing to do with religion. I believe the second edition of THE JEWISH BOOK OF WHY states the typical view of Judaism toward homosexuality, though it also notes that there are some who are in support and some who are not. The key is the Scriptures, which judges all things, including doctrines. It is the Standard by which we judge all doctrines. If the Scriptures do not condemn homosexual identity, then any Jews or Christians who condemn homosexuality are operating unlawfully outside the Word of God and have put words in God's mouth which He did not say, based on tradition and/or personal bias. So... when it comes down to it, since the Bible comes first, it really doesn't matter what Judasim teaches on any subject if it is different from God's Word. There are just as many bigots among the Jews as there are among Christians and any other People.

I hope that was helpful,
Rev. Jim
www.GayChristianSurvivors.com

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Moonlight_Angel_17 Sent: 6/22/2006 7:24 PM
This was very interesting to know. I would like to do some more research on
this to see what everything says. I still want to prepare myself spiritually
for the attacks of the "bigots" and "bible beaters". Thank You for the
insight ^_^

- Lee

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Manager Rev. Jim Sent: 6/24/2006 4:14 PM
Hi Lee and my dear brothers and sisters,

The most important thing to remember about dealing with Christians who are anti-gay: remember that, though they disagree with us on THIS issue, their faith in Jesus Christ means that they are still our brothers and sisters - and that is more important than ANY issue, because we will be spending eternity with them. There are many issues which Christians disagree with each other on, but unless a person who calls themselves "Christian" believes a doctrine which is outright blasphemous (such as denying that Jesus is God), we are all still one family in Christ through our faith in Him. We, as gay Christians, take the church's anti-gay views very personally and emotionally of course because it effects us personally. But remembering that we are still tied together by Something vastly superior than our various views, we can continue to show love, courtesy and yes, even respect, to our Christian brothers and sisters even in the face of their zealousness against us.

You know, a very interesting thing happened to me just the other day that relates specifically to this issue. I was in a store and I noticed a man who was wearing a t-shirt that said, "Jesus Saves". All of a sudden this strange anger started to build up in me toward this man, to the point that I felt hostile. What ran through my head was that this man was a typical religious fanatic who would probably tell me that I was going to hell for being gay. Now, mind you, the man had said nothing to me at all. All he did was publically show his love for the Lord through wearing a t-shirt. But I nearly became confrontational and came within seconds of saying something not-so-nice to him. Then suddenly the Holy Spirit stopped me short by saying, "Don't you DARE! He is your brother and he is My son!" And needless to say I felt ashamed of myself for forgetting this most important aspect of my faith. I can't be a one-man army against anti-gay doctrine ("for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God"), but I CAN be a demonstration of the Love of our Savior no matter what they think or say of me, as Jesus said, "Bless them that curse you and do good to those who persecute you... When thine enemy thirsteth, give him to drink, and in so doing, you heap coals of fire on thier head." It is true that we must speak up for the truth about homosexuality - but NOT in the fashion that they speak out against homosexuality. Their bad behavior is never a license for us to be nasty right back at them - because they are also made in the image of God and it was for their salvation too that Jesus died a horrific death and it was for their eternal life too that He rose from death. Our call from the Lord is to love them and PRAY for them, that God Himself will work the change in their hearts. And when we pray for them, it is not a prayer that they will see it OUR way, but that the Lord may be glorified by correct doctrine; because, when they teach their anti-gay doctrine they do not realize that they are causing unbelieving man and women to turn against God rather than toward Him, as Paul told believers, "The name of the Lord is blasphemed among the heathen THROUGH YOU." It grieves my heart when I see gays and lesbians turn away from Jesus to embrace all sorts of "gay friendly" pagan faiths, or ultra liberal twisted views of the Scriptures, due to the hate doctrine of anti-gay Christians. And this is why it is so important for us, not to push away our straight brethren, but PRAY for them - not for our own selves - but so that the name of our Lord and His Word is not abused and defamed and mocked and ridiculed by the lost. Jesus is the beginning and ending of all things, therefore He is utterly more important than our own issues, and all things that we do in the search for justice must be to His glory and edification.

In Jesus,
Rev. Jim

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Cameron_Kyre Sent: 6/24/2006 10:31 PM
Dear Jim,

In response to the all-member-e-mail:

You say that 'we will have to deal with them for eternity', but you
also address the fact that they are indeed blasphemers... If they do not
learn that they are blaspheming in the face of the Lord... well... I don't
think we will actually see much of them... Well, not that I would be in a
position for eternity myself, but you get my question. Also, if I still have
a long way to go before I could ever join Him (and I hardly expect to
succeed), then they must be even further. After all, I was also under the
impression that the kabbalah was endorsed by God, and I was wrong. And if
that counts against me, homophobia no doubt counts against them.

Also, I can relate to you on the flush of emotion... And I have
developed a very low opinion on 'catholics'. In fact, in my school, I can
pin point them by their arrogance, and have yet to be wrong in my
presumptions. This is not saying that catholicism is synominous with
arrogance, but I'd have to say that, in my personal opinion, the majority of
catholics are deplorable human beings. I am not 'judging' them; I am simply
saying that their manners repulse me. And these people, of course, include
'typical straight men', boys who goggle at anything with breasts and an ass,
and make it seem as though sex is the only thing ever on their mind and
'typical straight girls', who are rude and sometimes even sluts. No one at
my school would argue that there might be a 5% population of decent people,
if that.

Perfect example: My drama class, regarding people who I know for fact
are catholic. Glenn and Shawn (who are twins) Carli, Megan, and my teacher
Michael. I love Megan and Mr. Beckwith is one of my favorite teachers. Glenn
and Shawn irritated me with arrogance, homophobia, and an odd attempt to
claim to still somehow be Christian (At which point I said 'you're catholic,
aren't you? And found my guess to be correct). Carli voiced her faith
openly. The twins have no morals and make movies, including one that loves
using every racial slur in existence. And Carli loves to sport a bronze tan
and the shortest shorts you are allowed (and are NOT allowed) to wear in
school. She also thinks the world revolves around her, and voiced a thousand
times that she shouldn't have to work hard because she didn't want the
class, and she was 'forced' into it. And then should would, for lack of a
better word, bitch and insult Mr. Beckwith as if it was an outrage that he
wasn't giving her an A for 'gracing us' with her presence. Here we have 2/5
catholics showing that they are actually good people and good Christians.
But there are 3/5 showing that they are horrible human beings. And I don't
allow age to be an outstanding factor, or else I would pardon myself from my
own faults. And trust me, that is far from the case.

I do not support 'responding as they persecute', but there has to be a
degree of 'aggression'. Because passive prayer and other such methods will
not heal them. Arrogance is a personality trait, and you cannot (often)
change that in a person. I'm not campaigning force, but there has to be
strength. Though, these efforts are only to try in vain to help the
heathens. If they choose to be as they are even after we make the simple
point of what is actually said in the bible, and show them the only true
version... well there's nothing more. If they CHOOSE to still spit in the
face of God like that, trying to 'save' them is pointless. If they refuse to
truly listen to God in the first place, why would they listen to those who
they think are sinning as it is?

I am no brother of a homophobe. They are not true Christians. The only
bond I will acknowledge is the fact that we were both created by God in His
image. But they are not my 'fellow Christians'. Arrogance struck down
Lucifer, it works no less effectively on Humans. I wish they would listen,
but I cannot make them. I don't hate them, I really have no feeling but pity
for them, to be honest. And I don't think that 'forgiving' them for it means
that I have to address them as my 'brethren'.


With Love,

-Cameron

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Manager Rev. Jim Sent: 6/25/2006 11:36 AM
Hi Cameron,

As always, it is great to hear from you. You have that "enquiring mind" that I love so much. Just a couple of friendly corrections. You quoted me as saying "we will have to deal with them for eternity", and, you said that I "also address the fact that they are indeed blasphemers". Actually, I said that we would LIVE with them for eternity. And I didn't call them blasphemers for being anti-gay. Blasphemy is defined by a direct verbal assault against God and His Word, such as someone who claims that Jesus is not God or that Jesus married a woman while he was on earth, or that Jesus is just one of many gods or that the Word of God is merely man-made. Things like that. The large majority of Christians feel that homosexuality is a sin, but this certainly does not make them blasphemers.

But more importantly, you must remember that salvation is not obtained by works or deeds. You can't earn it, you can't be "good enough" for it. You can't do things to get salvation and you can't STOP doing things to get salvation. Salvation is a free gift from the Lord to any son or daughter of Adam to those who simply believe the Gospel of Jesus. It is clearly written that salvation comes by pronouncing with your mouth and believing from teh bottom of your heart that God came in the flesh, died for your sins, and rose from the dead so that you may also rise up incorruptable, then you will have salvation. This is why we cannot condemn our Christian brothers and sisters for their error in the way they handle homosexuality. You have to remember that they are just humans like you and me, trying their best to understand what is right and wrong in God's eyes. And they, like we, also have the burdens of any humans such as pride, fear, ignorance, bias. No two people are at the same place in the Lord, so it is totally impossible for us to expect fellow Christians to be perfect in their understanding of all things. What's more, we have an enemy, the devil, who wants nothing more than to tear the Body of Christ apart by any means. He delights in creating rifts and fractures and chaos and doubt to cause our House to crumble from the inside out. Should we ignore the crumbling walls of the Temple to fight about our petty differences among us as the roof falls down on our heads, or should someone open their eyes and look around and break away from the fights and reach out to hold up the walls and fill in the breeches?

Our Chrsitian brothers and sisters do not obtain salvation based on whether they are pro or anti gay. They cannot earn salvation by doing ANYTHING. And while we are required to love our neighbor as our selves as part of the supreme law of God, we have to give EVERYONE the chance to learn what that means -just as God is merciful. here will always be anti-gay Christians in the world. We cannot change the the hearts and minds of them all. But we cannot turn our backs on them. Our job is to love and forgive them UNCONDITIONALLY as the Almighty God Himself did for us when He gave Himself to die for our worthless asses. To say that a true believer in Jesus is not your brother just because of his views on sexuality means that you are daring to call yourself Judge, that you are of power to hold the seat of the Almighty to stand in Judgment and Condemnation against all who disgree. No, my sweet friend, that is a power neither you nor I have, nor will we ever have in this life, because the judgments of Man are bent, lopsided, without circumspection, without complete understanding of the matter, without complete insight of the past and the future, without clear understanding of consequences, selfish, and tained with sin. How other Christians treat you as a homosexual is none of your business. As a Christian your duty and allegiance and service is to the Father of Heaven, and it is required that you surrender your will, your rights, and your desires to Him who has power over all things and Who alone is able to change hearts and minds and spirits. Jesus told us that He will not forgive those who do not forgive others, because "while ye were yet sinners, Christ died for you". That means that while we were still living in sin, committing lies and witchcraft and theft and hate fornication and bitterness and and rebellion against God and all wicked things that man can devise, Jesus said "I love you" to us and came to take our punishment so that the Father can forgive us. Who are we then not to forgive every thing that is ever done against us? We were all dead men had it not been for the sacrifice of Jesus. But He has brought us to live and now our lives are His property because He bought us with His own blood. Forgiveness is not a choice. It is not a request. It is not a suggestion. It is a command from our King and God who has power to make us live or to obliterate us, to bring us great joy or great calamity. He says in essence to us, "I loved you enough to put on the likeness of your rotting flesh to die for Man, to let men beat Me and falsely accuse Me and lie about Me and abuse Me, and all the while I forgave over and over again. Yet you cannot forgive those who do evil against you, and you then want to call yourself MY child? My children do what I do, My children hear My voice and do as I tell them. My childen are the children of Light. My children are ministers of grace and love and goodness and mercy and FORGIVENESS on My behalf. And My children who do not behave as such, I rebuke and chasten so that they may be taught righteousness. And I do all things MY way in MY time, and all the world will wait."

While it is true that we should admonish one another to live righteously and as edifies the Lord, our required responsibility is to love and forgive IRREGARDLESS of anything anyone does. That is your just duty to the Almighty. Let Him be Judge. Just as your sins were deflected to jesus on the cross, thus saving you from eternal death, so too THEIR sins are deflected to Jesus. If you have an accusation against a believer in Jesus, it is to Jesus you must take it if you cannot reason with the offender. We do not have the power to judge another Man's servant. Do NOT let your anger turn to hate and bitterness, because it will not hurt them and will only destroy you.

It is not within our authority to say that a homophobe is not a true Christian, any more than they can say that YOU are not a true Christian for being gay. They are not the enemy. We are not here to fight them. We wrestle NOT against flesh and blood but against principalities and against powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places! If you think our fight is against homphobes, you are fighting the wrong battle and you are on the wrong side. We have a war to fight, but it is not against man. There is a battle on two fronts that we must be at war with: Satan and his fallen angels, and our own fallen nature. The battle field is earth, and the battle is for souls. If you fight your Christian brothers and say that they are not your brothers because you disagree with them on issues that are not eternal in consequence, you are throwing the battle, because it is for them that we fight! Exalt the Lord, resist the devil, elevate Man who is the image of God. Forgive, forget, resist temptation, cast off judgments, belay condemnations, fight no man but declare your war against the kingdom of Lucifer. Set to flight the armies of darkness by RESISTING what they have to offer. Do NOT accept their rebellion, do NOT accept their lies that you should get vengeance. Be the opposite of everything you hate. Do not reject your brethren, but be a light and a demonstration of what they OUGHT to be, so that they can learn. How can we just cast them off so easily? They simply lash out at us because they do not understand. There is so much that I myself do not understand, and I'm certain that there are things that I believe in completely the wrong way - and what if God were to cast me off for not instantly understanding things that are totally foreign to me? The idea of being homosexual is, to MANY heterosexuals, so foreign as to be mind-bogglingly alien to them. As a matter of fact, I felt the same way about heterosexuality, and I had to honestly deal with a true fear and loathing I had towards the concept of opposite-sex attraction. Had it not been the fact that heterosexuality has been around me all of my life, I might have grown as ruthlessly hateful toward it as many of them - who have not been around homosexuality - are towards us. Give them time. Give them mercy. "And into whatsoever city thou goest, and they receive not My word at thy hand, wipe their dust off thine shoes." If they won't hear you, don't hate them or persecute them. Leave them alone. It may take their whole lifetime to be able to relenquish their fear of homosexuality or to change their view on what they believe God says about it. They have the RIGHT to that chance, which is guaranteed them by the Father's grace - just as we too have.

With great love in Jesus,
Rev. Jim

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: don Sent: 6/25/2006 1:11 PM
I am sick and tired of readin what the Bible has to say about bein gay In the the book of Levities it is the book of the Law which the Irsealites had to follow and that law still stands today and it goes f or all people jews and Gentiles and if don't follow the we'll endup in hell.
Bein gay myself I made up my mind that it is time to followyour heart In the book of romans it says the same thing but beloved like I say follow your heart.

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Manager Rev. Jim Sent: 6/25/2006 3:10 PM
Hi Don,

Thanks for your comments, though I don't really understand your point. Are you saying that you believe that the Bible condemns, or supports, homosexual identity?

Rev. Jim

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: don Sent: 6/26/2006 2:42 PM
Rev Jim :The Bible condems beig gay I get tired of the bleeding hearts liberals that get on line and say one thing and do the others

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Manager Rev. Jim Sent: 6/26/2006 5:22 PM
Dear Don,

I'm sorry that you incorrectly believe that the Bible condemns homosexual identity. The perception that the Bible SUPPORTS homosexual identity, as I thoroughly teach and PROVE on this site, is not one bit of a Liberal agenda - unless, of course, you are saying that Jesus is Liberal. I am a hardcore fundamentalist conservative King James Bible-thumping minister, and I see NOT ONE place in all of the Scriptures that condemns homosexual identity. Why? Because my fundamentalism is based on seeing through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and not through the hate preaching of biased ministers who cannot think for themselves. What I DO see in the Bible is:

Sodom was not destroyed because of homosexuals but because the BIBLE says:
"Behold, THIS was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom:
pride,
fulness of bread,
and abundance of idleness was in her,
neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy;
And they were haughty,
and committed abomination before Me.
Therefore I took them away as I saw good."
- Ezekiel 16:49-50
...AND...
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrha,
and the cities about them in like manner,
giving themselves over to fornication,
and going after strange flesh,
are set forth as an example,
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
- Jude 1:7
Leviticus 18 & 20 and Romans 1 do not condemn homosexual identity, but DOES condemn heterosexuals who forsake their nature to fornicate with members of the same sex. They condemn men who "ALSO lie with mankind as he lies with a woman" and men who "LEAVE the natural use of the woman and burned in their lust" for other men. Since homosexuals are not heterosexuals who fornicate with men, and since homosexuals are not homosexual because of lust any more than a heterosexual is heterosexual because of lust, these verses do not refer to us.
There is nothing else in the Bible that even remotely condemns same sex romance and marriage and sex within marriage.
Therefore, your view that the Bible condemns homosexuals is based on your own self-loathing and hatred - not because GOD said it. I pray that the Lord opens your heart and eyes, because the Bible condemns anyone who puts words in God's mouth that He did not say, as you have done. When that time comes, we will welcome you back and we will look forward to your friendly posts. But for the time being, I cannot allow you to post hate speech on this website. If you have any further comments, I kindly ask you to direct them to my email box and I will reply to them there. But if I receive another gay-bashing message from you on this board, your message will not be posted. We love you very much, but we will not participate in your self-delusions or self-destruction.

In Jesus,

Rev. Jim Cunningham

[Rev. Jim Cunningham]

From: Manager Rev. Jim Sent: 12/10/2006 4:33 AM

You must remember that salvation is not obtained by works or deeds. You can't earn it, you can't be "good enough" for it. You can't do things to get salvation and you can't STOP doing things to get salvation. Salvation is a free gift from the Lord to any son or daughter of Adam who simply believe the Gospel of Jesus. It is clearly written that salvation comes by pronouncing with your mouth and believing from the bottom of your heart that God came in the flesh, died for your sins, and rose from the dead so that you may also rise up incorruptable and have salvation. This is why we cannot condemn our Christian brothers and sisters for their error in the way they handle homosexuality. You have to remember that they are just humans like you and me, trying their best to understand what is right and wrong in God's eyes. And they, like we, also have the burdens of any humans, such as pride, fear, ignorance, and bias. No two people are at the same place in the Lord, so it is totally impossible for us to expect fellow Christians to be perfect in their understanding of all things. What's more, we have an enemy, the devil, who wants nothing more than to tear the Body of Christ apart by any means. He delights in creating rifts and fractures and chaos and doubt to cause our House to crumble from the inside out. Should we ignore the crumbling walls of the Temple to fight about our petty differences among us as the roof falls down on our heads, or should someone open their eyes and look around and break away from the fights and reach out to hold up the walls and fill in the breeches?

Our Chrsitian brothers and sisters do not obtain salvation based on whether they are pro or anti gay. They cannot earn salvation by doing ANYTHING. And while we are required to love our neighbor as our selves as part of the supreme law of God, we have to give EVERYONE the merciful chance to learn what that means - just as God is merciful. There will always be anti-gay Christians in the world. We cannot change the the hearts and minds of them all. But we cannot turn our backs on them. Our job is to love and forgive them UNCONDITIONALLY as the Almighty God Himself did for us when He gave Himself to die for our worthless asses. To say that a true believer in Jesus is not our brother just because of his views on sexuality means that we are daring to call ourself Judge, that we are of power to hold the seat of the Almighty to stand in Judgment and Condemnation against all who disgree. No, my sweet friend, that is a power neither you nor I have, nor will we ever have in this life, because the judgments of Man are bent, lopsided, without circumspection, without complete understanding of the matter, without complete insight of the past and the future, without clear understanding of consequences, selfish, and tained with sin. How other Christians treat you as a homosexual is none of your business. As a Christian our duty and allegiance and service is to the Father of Heaven, and it is required that we surrender our will, our rights, and our desires to Him who has power over all things and Who alone is able to change hearts and minds and spirits. Jesus told us that He will not forgive those who do not forgive others, because "while ye were yet sinners, Christ died for you". That means that while we were still living in sin, committing lies and witchcraft and theft and hate and fornication and bitterness and rebellion against God and all wicked things that man can devise, Jesus said "I love you" to us and came to take our punishment so that the Father can forgive us. Who are we then not to forgive every thing that is ever done against us? We were all dead men had it not been for the sacrifice of Jesus. But He has brought us to life and now our lives are His property because He bought us with His own blood. Forgiveness is not a choice. It is not a request. It is not a suggestion. It is a command from our King and God who has power to make us live or to obliterate us, to bring us great joy or great calamity. He says in essence to us, "I loved you enough to put on the likeness of your rotting flesh to die for Man, to let men beat Me and falsely accuse Me and lie about Me and abuse Me, and all the while I forgave over and over again. Yet you cannot forgive those who do evil against you, and you then want to call yourself MY child? My children do what I do, My children hear My voice and do as I tell them. My childen are the children of Light. My children are ministers of grace and love and goodness and mercy and FORGIVENESS on My behalf. And My children who do not behave as such I rebuke and chasten so that they may be taught righteousness. And I do all things MY way in MY time, and all the world will wait upon Me."

While it is true that we should admonish one another to live righteously and as edifies the Lord, our required responsibility is to love and forgive IRREGARDLESS of anything anyone does. That is our just duty to the Almighty. Let Him be Judge. Just as our sins were deflected to Jesus on the cross, thus saving us from eternal death, so too THEIR sins are deflected to Jesus. Therefore if you have an accusation against a believer in Jesus, it is to Jesus you must take it if you cannot reason with the offender. We do not have the power to judge another Man's servant. Do NOT let your anger turn to hate and bitterness, because it will not hurt them and will only destroy you.

It is not within our authority to say that a homophobe is not a true Christian, any more than they can say that YOU are not a true Christian for being gay. They are not the enemy. We are not here to fight them. We wrestle NOT against flesh and blood but against principalities and against powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places! If you think our fight is against homphobes, you are fighting the wrong battle and you are on the wrong side. We have a war to fight, but it is not against man. There is a battle on two fronts that we must be at war with: Satan and his fallen angels, and our own fallen nature. The battle field is earth, and the battle is for souls. If you fight your Christian brothers and say that they are not your brothers because you disagree with them on issues that are not eternal in consequence, you are throwing the battle, because it is for them that we fight! Exalt the Lord, resist the devil, elevate Man who is the image of God. Forgive, forget, resist temptation, cast off judgments, belay condemnations, fight no man but declare your war against the kingdom of Lucifer. Set to flight the armies of darkness by RESISTING what they have to offer. Do NOT accept their rebellion, do NOT accept their lies that you should get vengeance. Be the opposite of everything you hate. Do not reject your brethren, but be a light and a demonstration of what they OUGHT to be, so that they can learn. How can we just cast them off so easily? They simply lash out at us because they do not understand. There is so much that I myself do not understand, and I'm certain that there are some things that I believe in completely the wrong way - and what if God were to cast me off for not instantly understanding things that are totally foreign to me? The idea of being homosexual is, to MANY heterosexuals, so foreign as to be mind-bogglingly alien to them. As a matter of fact, I felt the same way about heterosexuality, and I had to honestly deal with a true fear and loathing I had towards the concept of opposite-sex attraction. Had it not been the fact that heterosexuality has been around me all of my life, I might have grown as ruthlessly hateful toward it as many of them - who have not been around homosexuality - are towards us. Give them time. Give them mercy. "And into whatsoever city thou goest, and they receive not My word at thy hand, wipe their dust off thine shoes." If they won't hear you, don't hate them or persecute them. Leave them alone. It may take their whole lifetime to be able to relenquish their fear of homosexuality or to change their view on what they believe God says about it. They have the RIGHT to that chance, which is guaranteed them by the Father's grace - just as we too have.

With great love in Jesus,
Rev. Jim

[aaroncooper]

You are all so helpful in your insight. It helps me to relate with others who feel the same and you are so artful in your writings. Thank you for posting and God Bless.