Ramblings and Reflections

I have started and restarted several posts on the redefinition of marriage. Before posting one of them, I read a blog by Andy Jerome. He’s the pastor of the Parsons Primitive Methodist Church in PA. It’s a great take on the issue and I’d like to share this blog with you. Please consider his words.

Why Marriage Equality (Same- Sex Marriage) Is A Huge Issue

The United States Supreme Court is in the process of deciding two cases that could literally change the moral fabric of our society. Last week the court heard arguments asking it to declare proposition 8, a California ballot item establishing marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and the defense of marriage act (DOMA) signed into law by President Clinton doing the very same thing on a Federal level, unconstitutional. If the court would rule on either case it would most likely open the door for same sex marriage to become the norm in our society. Some might ask the question, so what is wrong with that? After all, we live in a very diverse society and shouldn’t everyone enjoy the same rights?  I’d like to address that question and a few others from a Biblical perspective because I unashamedly believe the Word of God is the source and standard of all truth.

For a true Christian this issue is rather quite simple. The Bible is very clear on several key things surrounding this issue. 1) God loves all people and so should we. Just because someone might disagree does not necessarily make them a hater. Every person should be affirmed as a human being but sinful lifestyles can never be accepted as being ok in the sight of God.  2) The Bible (both the old and new testaments) refers to homosexuality as a sin (Lev. 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) just to name a few. The argument that because Jesus never specifically spoke against homosexuality so we really can’t say how God feels is not a valid argument. God inspires all scripture so no section of scripture has any more authority than others.  3) Some of the harshest language is used when referring to the sin of homosexuality- words such as abomination, detestable, perversion, and unnatural. 4) All sins are not equal- the Bible states that sexual sins are in a different class than other sins- (1 Corinthians 6:18-20.) 5) Believers are called to be salt and light in the world. We are called to preserve the truth of God’s word and illuminate the darkness of sin in this world.   The Bible makes it very clear how God feels about sin, including and especially the sin of homosexuality.

For those who do not believe in God or accept the Bible then this issue is not as clear-cut since unbelievers do not look to the Bible for the definition of right and wrong or use it as a moral compass. I can certainly understand why a non-believer would look at the issue of same-sex marriage as a rights issue.

With that said, I would never deny anyone’s right to believe whatever they want to believe as long as everyone understand that not everyone is looking at this issue through the same lens.

So why should believers be concerned about what our supreme court does? First, since the whole concept of marriage originated with God (Genesis 2:23-24) it is God’s definition that believers are called to uphold.  Secondly, history tells us that the sin of homosexuality has led to the downfall of other great empires, specifically the Roman and Grecian Empires.  Thirdly and most compelling is the fact that the Bible pronounces a judgment upon those who give approval to sinful behavior- (Romans 1:32).

To sum it up, while many are trying to frame this issue as an equality issue, or a generational issue, or a diversity issue, or a rights issue, the truth is- it is a moral issue.  God, not man, is the author of morality. Since this is a moral issue we really have to ask ourselves, is this an issue we really want our supreme court to act upon? If you say you believe in God and accept the Bible then the only acceptable answer is no! If you say you’re a believer then you simply can’t go around saying,  “I believe in God and His Word but…”  When it comes to this issue, it is very clear how God feels.

So how should a believer respond? First we should affirm everyone as a human being loved by God. But we cannot under any circumstances condone sinful behavior or worse yet endorse laws that would contradict God’s Word. As a believer I would personally like to call upon the church to be in prayer for our Supreme Court justices.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would bring conviction upon them and when it comes time to render a decision, that they would uphold the constitutionality of both Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. This is a huge issue that could impact our nation for decades to come.

At our local mall, I recently saw the Easter bunny, sitting on his Easter bunny throne, holding royal court over all the little children. Frankly, I think it must be really traumatic for a kid to approach a stranger, especially one dressed up as a giant rabbit, and be forced to hug him or sit on his lap. Imagine the fright in their eyes as their parents push them towards the huge eared, bucktoothed specimen. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s only the Easter Bunny.”

It makes me want to yell out, “Watch it kid! He’s gonna eat you.”

Anyways, I noticed that the mall’s bunny display was about Peter Rabbit. So was this the Easter bunny or Peter Rabbit? Did I have the story wrong? Had Peter Rabbit graduated or magically transformed into the Easter Bunny? I didn’t stay long enough to find out, nor was I really concerned. I could have had some fun, though. . . gone and sat on the bunny’s lap and crushed him (or her) under the tremendous weight of the Easter Barbarian (a title I just gave myself).

Walking away, I wondered about the story of Peter Rabbit. Suddenly, a light went off in my head. We’ve been supporting the wrong person. Peter was terrible. Farmer McGregor (or whatever his name was) was the victim in this story! Think about it. The poor guy was trying to raise some food in his garden. Trying to feed his family. Maybe there was a food shortage in the village and he wanted to help out the needy. But what happened? A rabbit, a varmint, ravages his garden. Now that I think about it, Peter and his motley crew should have been skinned; their fur used to make some nice warm winter hats.

Hey wait a minute. My whole childhood, I have been brainwashed to root for the wrong guy. Tom and Jerry! The cat was simply trying to protect his house from a rat.

Mickey Mouse! We’ve basically made him king of Florida, yet he’s a mouse. Attention! To any women reading this…what would you do if you saw a mouse running across your kitchen floor? Yet he’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me! No!!

For us older kids; Pixie and Dixie? Two mice who tormented the house cat!

Mighty Mouse! He was the aggressor, fighting against common house cats who were trying to keep their families safe from the disease and destruction that rodents can bring; a super powered mouse, at that. How frightening.

As I delve deeper into my subconscious, I must ask the question- Is my hatred of felines (Nay! My fear of them) rooted in Saturday mornings, plastered to the TV, cheering for these small rodents over the helpless kittens who were subjected to a variety of sadistic acts, including but not limited to, being smashed with cartoon hammers, pushed off cliffs, having their tails burnt off?

Have I been brainwashed to cheer for the carriers of the Black Plague!!!

Farmer McGregor! Sylvester! Tom (or Jerry…whichever one is the cat. I never really knew), I apologize for not understanding the truth. I was caught up in the excitement of the moment. Sold a pack of lies by clever animators and cartoonists. I believed the history written by the winners, instead of looking for the truth.

Yes my friends, I tell you, we’ve been cheering for the wrong side! The Farmer had it right.

What super power would you like to have?

Seriously. If there were a store that sold powers, what would you get? By the way, would the store be called a “Supermarket”?? HaHaHa.

What do you think? Invisibility? The power to fly? Maybe to eat Mexican food without getting heartburn?

I’ve decided on the wonderful power of REWIND!!!!! When you say the word, imagine it booming and echoing through the air. REWIND!!!!! Yes! I’d like the power to do what the rewind button does on a DVD player- back up life. Admit it! It would be incredible.

In order to see how amazing it would be, let’s play out the following scenario-

You are walking down the street. You see a small child, tumbling out of a tree. He ends up lying in a heap on the ground, whimpering over a broken leg. His mother runs up, sobbing hysterically. “Junior! Oh, no! What can we do?”

Now imagine you have the superpower of REWIND!!!!!  (The exclamation marks are a part of the superpower, by the way). You go back 43.8 seconds in time, race to the base of the tree. Junior topples. His mother cries out, “Oh no! My baby!”

But wait! Because you went back 43.8 seconds, you are there. As he topples, you catch him! He’s saved!

The mother comes running up to you. “Thank you, thank you. You saved my boy!”

“It was all in a day’s work ma’am.” You smile and the sunlight sparkles off your teeth, just like in a Disney movie.

Let’s get back to reality.

The real reason I’d like the gift of REWIND!!!!!  is because of all the stupid things I’ve done in my days; the types of things that cause a person to lie awake at night, slap themselves on the forehead, and say, “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” Wouldn’t it be great if you could use REWIND!!!!!, go back and undo all those embarrassing things done, all the hurtful words spoken?

Unfortunately, we don’t have a built in button to allow us to do this. Personal remorse and guilt can be killers. There are those who go through life carrying the heavy weight of past sins, feeling its effect. Satan can use them to bring you down, to make you doubt yourself, and to break you.

Thankfully, even though we don’t have REWIND!!!!!, we do have a God who forgives. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” No matter what I do, through Jesus Christ, God offers forgiveness. He loves me that much. Don’t get me wrong, this is not an excuse to sin, “God has to forgive me, therefore I can do what I want”. No. But what it shows me is God’s love for a flawed human being like myself.

We also have a God who forgets our sins. He doesn’t hold them over our heads, like a sharp sword, cutting into us with constant reminders of past sins. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” When you come to Jesus Christ, He says, “ I forgive you. The slate is wiped clean. You are my child.”

Though I cannot undo the evils I have done, I am so thankful that my salvation, my happiness, don’t rely on a superpower of my own, but on a SUPER SAVIOR.

When did it happen? That’s my question.

I try to keep my blog light; talk about me doing silly stuff, like plotting to kill someone while eating at a restaurant, or wearing spandex and running around hurdles, but there’s something that’s been heavy on my mind. Some may read a couple of lines and roll your eyes and shut me off. I ask that you reconsider and read on.

—When did it happen? When did RIGHTS take precedence over RESPONSIBILITY?

In the last forty years, 54 million babies have been killed in the name of rights. Babies with beating hearts, babies with arms and legs, sucking on thumbs. Yet we are told that a woman’s right to reproductive care takes precedence over a child’s right to live.

When does the woman’s and man’s responsible for their actions kick in? During the election, a woman actually appeared before the United States government, declaring that our taxes should pay for her birth control. Young people feel they have the right to unlimited sexual activity with no regard for love, marriage, or children. Somethings wrong. When id it happen?

—When did it happen? When did the government take over the place of God in making moral and ethical decisions? That is exactly what has happened. A government that blindly declares Separation of Church and State has become the measuring stick of all things moral; they have become the church.

They declare something is legal, therefore it is all right to do.

Recently there was a terrible massacre in Connecticut. The nation was up in arms, fed by a media on a feeding frenzy, doling out truths, half-truths, and everything in between just to gain their market share.

54 million babies killed. But that’s okay. The government says so. Not a peep from the media.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

God says He knew the prophet Jeremiah while he was still in his mother’s womb. He knew a person, not a lump of matter. Not a product of conception.

—When did it happen? When did people become so gullible to the master illusionist, Satan? He has somehow turned an entire nation away from God?

Did you know I used to dabble in illusions? Card tricks, making coins disappear; stuff like that. The secret to a great magician or illusionists is misdirection. He gets you looking at his left hand, while the slight of hand is going on in his right hand. And you are amazed. None the wiser.

Americans are so mesmerized with Rights, we’ve looked away from God- What He says, how He tells us to live, what is right and what is wrong.  And Satan laughs at a people who are so blinded they don’t even know he exists.

I’ve looked up a couple of facts concerning abortion for you to consider.

• Coat hangers are a myth. They always pull out this old chestnut, don’t they. “What? Do you want to go back to the day of coat hangers and back alleys???” The fact is that 90% of abortions done, prior to legalization, were done by doctors. This myth is used, like slight of hand, to misdirect you from seeing the truth.
• “What about all those poor woman who are raped? Do you want to make them raise that unwanted child and live with that memory???” The truth be known, baby or not, they will live with that terrible memory. But the more important truth is, only 1% of abortions are done because of a rape. 99% are done, mostly because the baby is an inconvenience.
• “It’s the woman’s body! She has the right to choose.” Actually, I’ve never seen a human being with four arms, four legs, and two heart beats. Mom and child have different blood types. Mom and child are not the same. God has given women a wonderful privilege- the ability to grow a baby inside her.
• Aborted babies can feel pain. We worry about an eagle’s egg…a beached whale… an abandoned puppy. Why in the world don’t we defend the most helpless amongst us?

If you’ve read this far, and you are pro-abortion, right now, Satan, the great illusionist is yelling in your ear to ignore me as a crackpot, an old fashioned relic, someone who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. All I ask is that you consider…Maybe you are wrong. Maybe they are babies… Maybe if they had a voice, they’d shout out at the top of their lungs- “We have a right to live!”

Every year I make the same New Year’s resolutions, and then within weeks, I break them. It’s depressing. Resolutions like- I will lose 100 pounds this year. I will write the great American novel. I will run a marathon. At the beginning of the year, it’s all “Full steam ahead!”. I’m ready! By the end of the year, I’m filled with excuses why things didn’t work out the way I planned. Hah!

Let’s face it, the snow and the dark days of winter, make me depressed enough. I don’t need the guilt of broken promises to add to my gloom.

So with the help of my wonderful wife, Jodie, my daughter, Jessica, my son, Jacob, and my son-in-law, Craig, I came up with a list of easy resolutions that I can keep. Feel free to join me in pledging to do the following-

• I will walk at least 25 feet each week.
• I will drink a glass of water every day.
• I will not kill anyone this year. (My son came up with this one. Please don’t report us to the police. I have a feeling he wasn’t planning on killing anyone anyways.)
• I will kiss my wife at least once a week. (My son-in-law said this would be a hard one to keep. Don’t tell my daughter or he’ll be in hot water.)
• My Christmas tree will be taken down and put out for recycling before next Christmas.
• Seven out of ten times that I go into the refrigerator, I will close the door when I am done.
• I will remember to flush the toilet.
• Once a day, I will smile.
• When driving my car, I will sit behind the steering wheel.

If you find my list too easy, or too silly, here’s a final resolution you may want to join me in keeping. It’s found in Joshua 24:15 “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

• I resolve that, each day, I will endeavor to serve the Lord.

You may say, “You can’t possibly follow that. You’ll mess up as sure as you messed up with running the marathon.”

No, I won’t. You see, I’m not promising to be perfect. I’m saying, “I will endeavor…” Each day, I will do my best, with God as my helper, to accomplish the goal. But I will keep two facts in front of me- 1. Sometimes I will fail.  and    2. God is gracious and forgiving.

Let me put my resolution into practical terms.

• In the morning, I will dedicate the day to the Lord.
• Throughout the day I will seek His guidance.
• If I fall I will seek His forgiveness.
• If success comes my way, I will give Him the glory!

Now that’s a resolution worth keeping.