Sex, Lies and The Gay Debate (DL Foster)

Sex, Lies and the Gay Debate

By DL. Foster

At a time when homosexuality is widely embraced. the Bible's message hasn't changed. A battle is raging in our society over the issue of homosexuality. On the surface, it appears that those on the "right" side of this battle are losing. Consider these facts:

• Religious homosexuals have made stunning gains and captured worldwide attention in the church.
• Our nation's judiciary has become infected with activist judges who care little about traditional sexual morality.
• Lawmakers have taken up the cry of tolerance for homosexuality.
• Religious leaders have lost a hard-gained moral voice because of repeated divorce, ego battles, sexual scandals and money pursuits.

These are not simply exaggerated generalizations. In Los Angeles, a major Pentecostal denomination's leading bishop became embroiled in controversy when an openly homosexual clergyman was invited to preach at his church. The Episcopal Church recently consecrated an openly gay priest as a bishop. 
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How I Wish the Homosexuality Debate Would Go (Trevin Wax)

How I Wish the Homosexuality Debate Would Go
Just once, I’d like to see a TV interview go more like this:

Host: You are a Christian pastor, and you say you believe the Bible, which means you are supposed to love all people.
Pastor: That’s right.
Host: But it appears to me that you and your church take a rather unloving position when it comes to gay people. Are homosexuals welcome to come to your church?
Pastor: Of course. We believe that the gospel is a message relevant for every person on the planet, and we want everyone to hear the gospel and find salvation in Jesus Christ. So at our church, our arms are outstretched to people from every background, every race, every ethnicity and culture. We’re a place for all kinds of sinners and people with all kinds of problems.
Host: But you said there, “We’re a place for sinners.” So you do believe that homosexuality is sinful, right?
Pastor: Yes, I do.
Host: So how do you reconcile the command to love all people with a position on homosexuality that some would say is radically intolerant?
Pastor: (smiling) If you think my position on homosexuality is radical, just wait until you hear what else I believe! I believe that a teenage guy and girl who have sex in the backseat of a pick-up are sinning. The unmarried heterosexual couple living down the street from me is sinning. In fact, any sexual activity that takes place outside of the marriage covenant between a husband and wife is sinful. What’s more, Jesus takes this sexual ethic a step further and goes to the heart of the matter. That means that any time I even lust after someone else, I am sinning. Jesus’ radical view of sexuality shows all of us up as sexual sinners, and that’s why He came to die. Jesus died to save lustful, homo- and heterosexual sinners and transform our hearts and minds and behavior. Because He died for me, I owe Him my all. And as a follower of Jesus, I’m bound to what He says about sex and morality.
Host: But Jesus didn’t condemn homosexuality outright, did He?  MORE

A Reasonable Argument Against Homosexual Marriage (Frank Turek)

The legalization of homosexual marriage threatens traditional marriage — the national immune system that protects our civilization from destruction. Biblically based arguments against homosexual marriage carry little weight in the public square; however, it is possible to make a reasonable argument to protect traditional marriage and oppose the legalization of homosexual marriage without appealing to the Bible.

This argument is as follows:

1. Traditional marriage is beneficial to the public welfare.

2. Homosexual behavior is destructive to the public welfare.

3. The law is a great teacher; it encourages or discourages behavior and attitudes.

4. Legalization of homosexual marriage would encourage more homosexual behavior, which is

inherently destructive. It also would weaken the perceived importance of traditional marriage

and its parenting role, thereby resulting in further destruction of the family and society itself.

5. The law should endorse behaviors that are beneficial and restrain (or certainly not endorse)

behaviors that are destructive.

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Homosexuality and the Bible (Al Mohler)

Homosexuality is now the most controversial issue of debate in American culture — and it is likely to stay that way for a long time. Once famously described as "the love that dares not speak its name," homosexuality is now openly discussed and debated throughout American society.

Behind this discussion is an agenda, pushed and promoted by activists, who seek legitimization and social sanction for homosexual acts, relationships, and lifestyles. The push is on for homosexual "marriage," the removal of all structures and laws considered oppressive to homosexuals, and the recognition of homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, and others as "erotic minorities" deserving of special legal protection. The movement to normalize homosexuality won a huge victory last year when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case More

Out of Mormonism - a testimony

(Saints Alive) Ed Decker.  Being a Mormon was really something special! There was a spirit of having arrived in the very center of eternity that came with membership. The image was one of wholesomeness, industry and happiness. There was a built-in self-esteem that came with the name "Mormon", a strange, proud kind of humility, an urgency to excel.
So many members are converts. They seem to be the ones with that special zeal for the Gospel. They had lived that life of partial truth in the darkness of some other church. They are the ones who have been reached by the great missionary vision of the L.D.S. Church. They represent the "fruit" of the truth that Mormonism is the "only true church". Once the basic truths of the LDS doctrines were explained in the missionary lessons, and the urgently sought-after, mystical "burning in the bosom" received, the convert is joyfully baptized and confirmed a member of the "only true church" and given the "Gift of the Holy Ghost".   MORE

Cults

(Rich McGee)  Rich McGee directed the recent conference on origins entitled Mere Creation which was held in Los Angeles and was attended by 192 scientists and scholars. Rich, a 20- year staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ, is also director of International Expansion for Christian Leadership Ministries, where he has been since 1982. Rich earned a Th.M. in Old Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1981...  MORE

Utah Lighthouse Ministry

Welcome to the Official Website of Utah Lighthouse™ Ministry,
founded by Jerald and Sandra Tanner.
The purpose of this site is to document problems with the claims of Mormonism and compare LDS doctrines with Christianity.
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The Difference Between Mormonism and Christianity

(Justin Taylor)  The following is adapted from the section on Mormonism (or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) in the ESV Study Bible article on religious cults ^[1]. The attempt is to be concise yet still accurate. I’ve added questions in bold to break it up a bit.

What do Mormons believe about apostasy and restoration?
Mormons claim that “total” apostasy overcame the church following apostolic times, and that the Mormon Church (founded in 1830) is the “restored church.”

What’s the problem with this understanding?
If the Mormon Church were truly a “restored church,” one would expect to find first-century historical evidence for Mormon doctrines like the plurality of gods and God the Father having once been a man. Such evidence is completely lacking. Besides, the Bible disallows a total apostasy of the church (e.g., Matt. 16:18; 28:20 ^[2]; Eph. 3:21; 4:11–16 ^[3]), warning instead of partial apostasy (1 Tim. 4:1 ^[4]).
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Website: A Clearinghouse of Information on Christian-Muslim Apologetics

Answering Islam, a Christian, Muslim Dialogue (website)

•The Islamic View Of Biblical Corruption


Christian scholar Gordon Nickel's extensive research into the question of what Islam’s earliest sources say about the reliability and authority of the Bible was written up in a book and published by Brill in 2011. Nickel culls through the commentaries of Muqatil ibn Sulayman and al-Tabari, as well as the Sira of Ibn Ishaq, in order to examine how these authorities understood all of the verses from the Quran which address the issue of the authenticity and alleged tampering of the previous Scriptures.   MORE

Reaching Muslims for Christ

(The Gospel Coalition) Reaching Muslims for Christ: A Conversation with J.D. Greear
Yesterday, I posted a review of Breaking the Islam Code: Understanding the Soul Questions of Every Muslim, a new book by J.D. Greear. J.D. is pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina and blogs regularly at JDGreear.com. Today, I’m happy to have J.D. stop by the blog and talk about ministry to Muslims.
Trevin Wax: In your experience, what’s the biggest psychological hurdle that Christians have when it comes to sharing their faith with a Muslim?

J.D. Greear: The biggest psychological hurdle is feeling like they have nothing in common with a Muslim. We think Muslims are a fundamentally different kind of person. But they are made in the image of God just like we are, so they have many of the same questions, ideas, and thoughts.  MORE

How to Reach Out to Muslims

(Baptist Press)  RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--It isn't that Muslims aren't responsive to the Gospel, International Mission Board strategist Sam McAlister* says. The issue, he says, is that most Muslims have never heard it or seen a committed Christian live it out.
Islam claims nearly one-fourth of the world's population — 1.57 billion Muslims. But fear -- felt by both Muslims and Christians -- ranks among the most significant barriers separating the Muslim world from the Gospel today.
After Sept. 11, 2001, Western culture collectively branded Muslims as suicidal jihadists bent on the Islamization of the globe politically as much as religiously by the fear-producing act of terrorism. Though these stereotypes are softening as Americans' understanding of Islam grows, strong anti-Muslim sentiment endures as war with terrorist groups continues in Afghanistan and Iraq.  MORE

How Do We Respond to the Global War on Christians in the Muslim World (Michael Horton)

(White Horse Inn Blog) Newsweek‘s current cover-story is “The Global War on Christians in the Muslim World,” by Ayann Hirsi Ali, who fled her native Somalia and served in the Dutch Parliament before taking a position at the American Enterprise Institute. As the article points out, widespread anti-Christian violence is exploding even in countries with Muslim minorities. How do we respond wisely as Christians to this growing threat?

1. Prayer

First, the crisis calls for concerted prayer on behalf of our brothers and sisters under the cross. More Christians have been martyred in the last several decades than in all of the centuries combined—including the early Roman persecutions. We are directed by Christ to pray first and foremost for the coming of his kingdom, come what may. But we also are called to pray for the “daily bread” and protection from temptation that become especially critical needs under persecution. Corporate and private prayers for all the saints, especially those under the cross, should be high on our list.     MORE

Letters to Luke (III)

(Tim Challies) As you know, I’ve been participating in a short exchange of letters with Luke Muehlhauser who blogs at Common Sense Atheism. Here is where we’ve been so far:

Luke’s First Letter to Me  
My Reply to Luke

Luke’s Second Letter to Me
My Second Reply 

Luke’s Third Letter to Me

And here is my third and final letter.....
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Challenging the New Atheists

(Probe - Written by Patrick Zukeran) Nearly thirty years ago John Lennon sang the song, “Imagine.” The words went like this:


“Imagine there’s no heaven  It’s easy if you try  No hell below us   Above us only sky   Imagine all the people Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do  Nothing to kill or die for  And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace

Imagine there’s no heaven. . .You may say that I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one  I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one

In other words, the source of much evil in the world is religion: belief in God, life after death, and a universal moral code. Would the world be a better place if faith in God was eliminated? Many atheists now think so. Richard Dawkins states, “Imagine with John Lennon, a world with no religion. Imagine, no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Indian partition, no Israeli/Palestinian wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no persecution of Jews as ‘Christ killers’, no Northern Ireland ‘troubles’, no honour killings’, no shiny-suited bouffant-haired televangelists fleecing gullible people of their money (‘God wants you to give till it hurts’). Imagine no Taliban to blow up ancient statues, no public beheadings of blasphemers, no flogging of female skin for the crime of showing one inch of it.”{1} The goal of the new atheists is to rid the world of belief in God or religion and replace it with reason and science. The new atheists believe that religions that embrace a belief in God, particularly Christianity, are not just irrational but dangerous and therefore must be extinguished.
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Answering the New Atheists

(CMI) Bestseller lists have recently included a sequence of books written by a small cadre of articulate atheist writers. The youngest of these ‘new atheists’ is Sam Harris, a 40-year-old graduate student who exploded onto the scene with two bestsellers in quick succession.

One articulate Christian apologist who has been keeping tabs on the ‘new atheists’—and providing answers—is Doug Wilson (pictured left), a pastor and Fellow in Theology at New St Andrews College. He first saw Harris’s Letter to a Christian Nation sitting on a colleague’s desk when it was fresh off the presses.1 ‘The title caught my attention, and I ordered a copy.’ Harris’s slim, unobtrusive Letter distilled the essence of the atheists’ case into an easy-to-read format which caught the attention of the general public in the US particularly. In a matter of months, Doug Wilson’s rebuttal—just a little longer than Harris’s—was rolling off the presses. MORE

Atheistic Atonement

Christopher Hitchens weighs in on the atonement and John Calvin.

(Tim Challies) I just finished reading Christopher Hitchens’ atheistic screed God is not Great. Demanding the end of all religion and proclaiming that belief in God is harmful to individuals and to society, Hitchens attempts, at least in portions of the book, to mock and even to deconstruct Christian theology. I found his remarks on the atonement to be of particular interest, primarily because the atonement is a hot topic even within the church these days. I wondered, would an atheist make some of the same criticisms as supposed Christians do? If a person who proclaims Christ looks at the atonement and declares it cosmic child abuse, how much more repulsive must it appear from beyond even the semblance of faith? So here is what Hitchens says about the atonement:   MORE

President Obama’s Christianity

by: Denny Burk

Cathleen Falsani has recently republished the full transcript of an hour long interview with candidate Barack Obama about his faith. The information is not new, but it is relevant to recent conversations on the topic of President Obama’s Christianity. The interview took place in 2004 when Obama was still a state senator in Illinois. It was a couple days after Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that he eventually won, and four months before he was introduced to the rest of the country in his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The interview focuses entirely on Obama’s faith, and I think it opens a wide window on the version of Christianity that he professes.
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Five Evangelical Myths or Half Truths

By RC Sproul, Jr.

It can happen even in careful systematic theology. How much more so in popular parlance? We take what the Bible actually teaches, rephrase it so we can understand it, and end up believing our own phrasing, rather than the actual biblical truth. It’s not malicious, but it is dangerous. What follows are five common thoughts, common expressions, within the evangelical church that just aren’t so.

1. “All sins are equal in the sight of God.”
Well, no. It is true enough that every sin is worthy of God’s eternal wrath. It is true enough that if we have broken part of the law we have broken the law (James actually says this.) It is true enough that unjust anger is a violation of the commandment against murder (Jesus actually says this.) None of this, however, means all sins are equal in the sight of God. To say that because all sins deserve eternal wrath means they are all equal is like saying that all numbers over 100 are equal. The truth is that Jesus said of the Pharisees that while they rightly tithed their mint and their cumin, they neglected the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23). No sin is weightless, but some weigh more than others.
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ACTION ALERT: Bill Requiring Mandatory Insurance for Abortion Advances in the Legislature.

by John Geis | February 24, 2012 

The Washington State Legislature (WSL) is moving a bill that forces all individuals to purchase and all businesses sell abortion insurance coverage on a maternity plan. This is clearly an attempt to impose a state abortion mandate at the hands and under the direct bidding of Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

The Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2330 passed from the House floor with 52 yes votes and 46 no votes, where three democrats voted against it. It then passed through several Senate hurdles to end up in the Ways and Means committee for a public hearing yesterday, where our testimony was excellent. The bill awaits an Executive Session in that committee on Monday, Feb 27th at 1:30pm or 3:30pm.  MORE

The Bible and Birth Control

(Tim Challies) I have been asked to write about the Christian position on birth control. This is something I have discussed in the past, but there are many ways to approach the topic and this time I would like to approach it from a bit of a different angle. I intend to share how I have gone about arriving at my own position. I will begin by immediately stating what the Bible clearly forbids when it comes to birth control. From there I will survey the Bible to find principles that are helpful in the discussion. That will take us to the end of this article, leaving me to say more another day.
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