Homosexuality: Be Careful What You Say

What I find when it comes to the topic of homosexuality, is that many times Christians want to soft-peddle it in order to make people comfortable. This desire to soft-peddle tends to be driven by the outrage that is often unleashed by the homosexual community upon those who think their lifestyle is sinful. When we see this, many think, oh no, we have offended them, they will never know we love them if we do that. The problem with this type of thinking is that it usually assumes that the outrage is justified when in fact it is not. Often, the charges against Christians have nothing to do with the homosexuals actually being unloved, and have more to do with them not wanting anyone to tell them they are in sin. If we kowtow to these objections we are actually bowing in reverence to their sinful rebellion to the Word of God. I for one chose not to do this because I love them dearly and see them as totally depraved sinners, just like I was until I was brought to faith by the conviction of the Law, and told how Christ fulfilled the Law on my behalf and bore my wrath on the cross. It will not do to act like someone sins are small and then present the Gospel. Like Luther said, Christ did not pay a meager price on a meager cross for someones meager sins. He paid the ultimate price, because our sin (mine, yours, and the homosexual's) are disgusting and need to be rejected immediately.

Doug

How Much Hate Does it Take to Call Someone a Hater?

Gay Marriage: The Self-Refuting Appeal to Secularism

Another of the most common arguments for gay marriage deals with religious grounding on the part of many people who hold to the current definition of marriage being between one man and one woman. It is argued that because of its religious nature, the definition of marriage needs to be revised. It needs to be more secular in order to not force religion on anyone.

The main problem with this argument, besides misunderstanding the nature of the separation of church and state, is that if you remove a religious basis for ethics and replace it with a secular one, you end up with a relativistic ethic. In a secular ethic there is no place to ground morality. Whether you ground them in the individual, a community, or some pragmatic end to which the ethic should be a means, individuals and communities tend to disagree. They also disagree with which pragmatic ends should be sought. In the end a secular ethic becomes self-refuting leaving no actual grounds to say that the current definition of marriage is wrong. This type of ethic always boils down to power because there is no real right and wrong. If the group who wants to promote gay marriage has more power they will win, or vise versa. But if this is the case, it would be illogical to say that it is unethical to not allow homosexuals to marry. Instead the argument should be, “there is no real right and wrong, and we desire gay marriage and we are tying to see if we have more power than those who don’t.” All appeals to equality, or separation would be mere smokescreens masking a play for power.

Finally, if someone does want to appeal to a universal transcendent objective ethic, there is no way to escape its religious nature, and in the end this would refute the separation of church and state argument stated at the outset.

Doug Eaton

Ray Boltz is a Homosexual: Shouldn't we be Glad That He is Happy?

Many Christians are familiar with the music of Ray Boltz. In the 1990’s he published several songs which stayed on the Christian music charts for months and found their way into the “special music” section of church services everywhere. A few of his hits where “Thank You (for Giving to the Lord)” “Watch the Lamb” and “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb” Well, he has come out to let the world know that he is a homosexual.

So what should we think about the “coming out” of such a notable Christian figure, especially since he is now claiming to be happy? Besides the obvious sorrow we should feel for the destruction caused to Mr. Boltz’s family by divorcing his wife and the grief of his four children, and sorrow for Mr. Boltz himself as he is now living outside the revealed will of God, this should cause us to think for a minute about the deceptive nature of our enemy.

Scripture says that our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and much too often we as Christians do not take this warning seriously enough. Now I do not claim to have insight into the exact reasons why Mr. Boltz decided to grab on to his lusts and forsake his obedience to the Lord, but there are a few general things which usually take place in all these instances.

First, it did not happen overnight. Falls of this nature usually progress from what we sometimes consider lesser sins. Thoughts enter the mind and instead of dealing with them they begin to be dwelt upon. Then those thoughts progress into small acts of compromise and years later there seems to be no way of reversing the trend. The warning here should be clear, with whatever sin we are dealing, one of the key battlegrounds if not the key battleground, is the mind. We must take every thought captive and not wait until they manifest in other ways.

Second, there is the questioning of God. “Did the Lord really say?” is the question that inevitably come to mind. During this point whether consciously or unconsciously something begins to cause us to put scripture in a place of lesser authority. Unfortunately, what usually takes its place and causes revision to our interpretation of the clear word of God is “happiness.” And this certainly played a part in Mr. Boltz’s story. He mentions in his coming out interview in the Washington Blade, that before he came out he was unhappy and even depressed. So much so that he had to go on anti-depressants. So why would he bring this up? Though he does not state it explicitly, it is for the simple reason that he wants us to make the same logical conclusion he has made. That if I am not happy I must be interpreting scripture incorrectly, after all God would not make me in such a way where I would be unhappy.

Third this trend of putting happiness first did not come out of nowhere. It saturates American evangelicalism, and is clearly a device of the enemy. All we have to do is listen to Christian music, Christian conferences, and even the preaching in many churches to see this is this trend. The true gospel has been substituted. Instead of preaching law and gospel where we are told the truth that we need to come to Christ because we are sinners deserving of wrath, and that the wages of sin is death, what is preached in its place is sorrow and self-esteem. The reason you need to come to Christ isn’t because you are sinner deserving wrath, but because you feel lonely, things aren’t going right in your life, and because you are unsatisfied with your life at the moment. It turns out that this is why you should come to Jesus. It’s not sin and the need of repentance. The problem with this is evident when we ask, what happens when a “Christian” becomes unhappy, lonely, or unsatisfied, what is the problem now? They already have Jesus. The problem must be with the way we interpret Jesus. And so it goes.

The problem with all this is that striving against sin, whether in us or in others, is never comfortable or pleasant. Even striving against sin can make us lonely, because some people will reject us for it, and we will even face times of heaviness and great sorrow because of it too.

The author of the book of Hebrews makes this point when he encourages his readers to press on in their fight against sin. He reminds them that they “have not resisted to bloodshed striving against sin” (Heb. 12:4).

So this would be my words of encouragement to Mr. Boltz if I had a chance to talk with him. Yes it is hard struggling against the assaults of such strong sinful lust, and it may cause you unhappiness for a time, but you have not yet resisted to bloodshed, and it would be better to enter the kingdom of heaven after a long and unpleasant fight, than to go to hell on beds of ease. Come home Mr. Boltz. Go back to your family if they will have you, and start fighting against sin again, for any temporary happiness you think you now have will be short lived. And even though living a life battling with sin may be tough, it cannot be compared to the glory that awaits us in heaven with our Savior.

I pray that Mr. Boltz is indeed a Christian who will be brought back by the chastening hand of the Lord (Heb. 12:11), but the unfortunate thing for many who find themselves in this situation is that they never come back because they are not his, and scripture is clear…

“If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons (Heb. 12:8).

May we all be aware of the roaring lion and his tactics. May we guard our hearts diligently even when it is painful. For the Word of God is clear…

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)”

I for one will not be glad that Mr. Boltz has found a home in the homosexual lifestyle, even if he does claim to have a happiness he didn’t have before. Instead, I will weep for him to come home.

Doug Eaton