Hi to my Forum Friends,
In the discussion "What's The Difference Between Fat And Gay Pastors?" I wrote, "Okay, start throwing the rocks. But, keep in mind that I am not telling you Bill Gray's word; I am telling you what the Word of God tells us. Take it or leave it; but, in leaving it -- a person is also leaving the God who authored it."
And, our new Forum Friend, ArtVandelay, responded, "I will leave it. You believe in a sky fairy who knows all, yet you refuse to accept reality here on earth. For example, there are people who are born gay. Also, there are non-religious people have have exceptional morals, but you refuse to accept reality. Christians claim to be caring and loving, yet they try and repress entire classes of people, and spew hate in the name of the sky fairy. Yes, I opt for no sky fairy."
Art, my Friend, be careful with your wording -- some folks may start to believe you are one of our old banned Forum Friends trying to sneak back in -- say Fish or Deep. In leaving God, I am not sure if you are declaring yourself to be an atheist, an agnostic, or just a vanilla flavored non-believer who does not want to become a Christian believer because you feel that you will have to give up your desired lifestyle. Which is it?
Yes, for a Christian believer, there has to be accountability to God -- and to your fellow Christ Followers. But, far from that being a burden, it is a blessing -- for along with that accountability goes the promise of Jesus Christ that we have eternal life, eternal security, in Him. That is what you are missing when you opt out of the Christian faith.
You tell me, "For example, there are people who are born gay."
Please give us a URL source showing that a "gay gene" has been found by science.
No, I am not talking about quoting an atheist psychiatrist, or a group of atheist psychiatrists, who declares the gay lifestyle to be normal; but, an actual scientist who declares and has proven that he/she HAS indeed found a "gay gene" and therefore proves beyond all doubt that folks are born gay.
Until then, I will stick to what God tells us in Genesis 1:24-31, the sixth day of Creation, when man is created in His image -- and He declares, "It is very good." On all the other five days of Creation, He only declares His work to be be "good." But, on the sixth day, when He creates man, He declares this work to be "very good."
Now, let's skip on over to Leviticus 18:22 where He declares the homosexual lifestyle to be "an abomination" and to Leviticus 20:13, where He declares the homosexual lifestyle to be "a detestable act."
Then, run on over to Romans 1:26 where He declares this lifestyle to be "unnatural" and in verse 27 where He calls it an "indecent act."
You get my drift. Why would God declare His creation of man to be "very good" -- and then, create some of them to be an abomination, detestable, unnatural, and indecent? Does this make sense? Who are we to believe -- God or the atheist psychiatrists? I will go with God.
Then you tell me, "Also, there are non-religious people (who) have have exceptional morals. . ."
Amen to that! There are many wonderful, exceptionally moral people who are not Christian believers. I have never questioned that. However, when we speak of being a moral person, we are not necessarily speaking of eternal salvation. A person can be very moral -- and still not have eternal salvation. So, the task of every Christian believer is to tell folks that they need Jesus Christ, they need to be born again (John 3:3), they need to, by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) -- believe and receive (John 1:12) His "free gift" of eternal salvation.
How do they do this? Glad you asked. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus tells us, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if ANYONE hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."
In this Scripture verse, Jesus Christ is telling all of us that He is standing at the door of our hearts, patiently waiting to be invited to come in and be our personal Lord and Savior. Believe it or not, there are things which Jesus Christ, God, cannot do. He cannot lie, He cannot make a mistake, He cannot change -- and, He cannot open the door of your heart and make you a Christian believer.
YOU have to do this yourself. This is the function of the gift of the "free will" which God gave to everyone in His creation. Each of us has the "free will" to choose to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior -- or to deny Him. It is your choice -- but, YOU MUST make that choice for yourself. No one else can make it for you.
So, if YOU will open the door of your heart and invite Him in -- He will come in and dine with you. In the Jewish culture of Jesus' day; to dine with a person was the highest intimacy. One did not dine with just anyone; but, only with those who were very special. So, when YOU open the door and invite Him to come in -- He becomes the most special Person in your life -- your personal Lord and Savior.
Art, that should be our main goal in life; far above just living a moral life. However, if one is a born again Christian believer -- he/she will live a moral life. We call that the "fruit" of our salvation; that we strive to do the things which are pleasing to Jesus Christ. And, He did tell us, in Luke 10:27, to, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
That is all part of being a moral, born again Christian believer. For, we are told in James 2:17, "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." We become a Christian believer by opening the door of our hearts to Jesus Christ -- and then, the "fruit" of that salvation is good works, moral works.
If we do not have the good works, as we are told in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, our works will be revealed and tested by fire -- yet, the Christian believer, even if he has no real works (for we are told in Ephesians 2:8-9 that man is not saved by works, lest he boast) -- that believer is still saved, and has eternal life with God. No, my Friend, works, no matter how good -- cannot save a person.
Here it comes! Like rain surely will fall from a rain cloud! Go ahead and say it, "Okay, Bill, how about all those priest who molested young children? Are they moral?"
No, they are not! And, who says they are Christian believers? Just because a person is a priest; just because a person is a pastor; just because a person is a bishop or an elder -- does NOT make them Christian believers.
In the 1970s, Peter Jenkins and his wife, Barbara, walked across America and wrote the book, The Road Unseen, about this journey. In the book, Jenkins, then not a Christian believer, came upon a Revival Meeting in Mobile, Alabama. The speaker was James Robison, a pastor from Texas. In this excerpt from the book, Jenkins relates this experience with Robison:
James wiped his forehead and paced across the platform, "I remember an evangelist who walked up to a man in the congregation one night. The evangelist put his hand on the man's shoulder and asked him if he wanted to become a Christian. The man practically growled at the evangelist, 'I'm a deacon in this church!' And the evangelist calmly said, 'Don't let that stand in your way.'"
As most of the people laughed, he continued, "It's possible to be a deacon, an elder, a steward, a Sunday school teacher, and go to church all your life and not know the Lord."
A moral Christian believer may, and most often will, slip and fall into sin on occasion. However, if a person does this evil consistently -- it becomes their lifestyle. And, a Christian believer CANNOT live an immoral, indecent, abominable lifestyle. For that is living a lifestyle which God Himself has denounced.
So, Art, my Friend, I pray that you will reconsider your choice of opting out of Christianity. When Jesus Christ was resurrected, this assured that all humans will also be resurrected and live eternal lives -- some to eternal life with God, others to eternal self condemnation with Satan. The choice is yours.
And, my Friend, I pray that you will choose well. The brief life we have on this earth; the brief worldly pleasures and desires we can attain in this life -- are but a mere pittance when compared to our eternal life. Eternity is a very long time. Plan well for it.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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