EITHER IT IS, OR IT AIN’T!

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Galatians chapter 5, verses 17 thru 21; from the New Living Translation (NLT)

“You can’t take it with you!” This statement is all about what happens when one dies. They just can’t take the material stuff with them into the afterlife. Most everyone agrees with this statement. But what about in the here and now? There are many who want the New Life that Jesus offers–but–I said BUT–they also want to bring along their old life as well.

Progressive Theology wants us to believe that we can, though. Just bring the old you–whatever that may be–and Jesus will make that Old you right if we just will love others and love God. This is especially true in the real of sexuality. Before we accept Jesus’ offer for a NEW Heart, Spirit, and Life, we are under the influence and control of the OLD heart, spirit, and life. (By the way, it’s called SIN!) The Invitation from Jesus is to leave behind the OLD and then step into the NEW!

And we can’t step into the NEW if we are unwilling to leave behind the OLD! Why? Because the Two are incompatible. Just like Paul wrote here. The old wants what the old wants. The NEW wants the opposite of the OLD! What’s so difficult to understand about this? Trying to drag your old life into the NEW life is like trying to put water in your vehicle’s fuel tank and expecting that engine to accept that water and keep right on running. You cannot bring along your sexual preferences (or whatever your sin-of-choice might be) into the New Life! Either it is, or it’s ain’t a New Life! But it can’t be both!

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MY APOLOGIES TO THE GAY COMMUNITY

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.  Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Romans chapter 12, verses 14 thru 16; from the New Living Translation (NLT)

I need to begin today’s thoughts with a confession and a recognition. The confession is that I started these thoughts back in 2019, but didn’t finish them; that is, until this morning. The recognition is that I may lose some followers because of what I am about to write. I’m OK with that. After all, I’m not seeking followers of me. I am, however, seeking to help those who will be followers of Jesus. And that desire sometimes causes people to turn away from me. And my heart breaks for them because they have either chosen to follow the god of this world, or in some way I have failed to reveal to them the true Jesus. The later is mine alone to repent of and seek His restoring and empowering forgiveness.

I am reading a book that, well, honestly, I’m having a hard time reading. It’s deep and uses a lot of big words like mahogany. But I find that big words makes me study more. The book is Rules For Reformers by Douglas Wilson. Usually I love books that are easy to read and understand, something that I can read quickly. But this book…it’s making me think deeply. And here is what The Spirit is prompting me to write.

I want to apologize to the LBGTQI+ community. My apology to you comes out of the lies and half-truths that have been told to you. And please remember that a half truth is still a lie because it’s not The Truth! I have been reflecting and meditating on this hot topic issue of our culture and in our churches. This apology has come out of the wrestling arena that looks like a “no-holds-barred-cage match with multiple participants”. The result for me has been a mix of sobering reality and personal heartbreak. It has led me to a place of repentance and confession to God, and now to this culture we all live in.

First of all, I want to apologize on behalf of the Body of Christ. I apologize that some members of The Body have called you an abomination; as if you were one of a few people worse than the rest. It is detestable that you have been singled out for this word. The Truth is that all of us humans do and engage in things that are in fact, detestable to God. It’s called sin. Your sin is not worse than my, or anyone else’s sin. And our sin is just as bad as your sin. WE, you and I, are not detestable to God. We are all equally loved by God–pure, complete, and unconditional love.

However, and here is the other half of the truth, we have actions and attitudes that are detestable to Him. They are, in fact, detestable to Him because they are outside His Intended Design for us. These things, this sin, alienates us from God. He will not, and we cannot have a relationship with God as long as we embrace our sin. Thus, they are keeping us out of the relationship HE wants to have with us. The death of Jesus on that Cross wasn’t meant to take away the abomination of our preferred sin. But to reveal to us how hideous sin is to Him. And through faith in Jesus, He takes away the penalty and power that all forms of sin holds over us. In short, to help take away our desires to sin–and thus deliver all of us from sin’s dominion.

Secondly, I want to apologize to you that culture, society, and even science has taken away your true freedom. You have also been lied to in that culture, society, and even in some scientific circles, are telling you have that you have no choice with your life other than to live within your physical desires. They alone, bear the responsibility for any and all gender euphoria you may be experiencing. The proven science of biology clearly reveals there are two genders–male or female. There is a rare birth defect known as ambiguous genitalia which is a complicated thing. But it is just this: a birth defect. Not a “person” defect–but a biological defect. Something happened as the baby develops that causes this condition. But the 50+ forms of gender identity being passed out like candy? They are nothing but lies designed to keep you from your true God-given identity.

Labels are great for products. When I buy a can of pinto beans, I know I’m getting pinto beans. Not green beans, white beans, or even dog food. But I detest labels being put on people. I understand what it feels like to have the wrong label. Some have chosen to label me a divorced and remarried pastor; meaning I’m disqualified to do what God has called me to do. And if I had not admitted my sin, did not have the desire to never divorce again, and not put my faith and trust in God forgiving me and making me a brand new person, then I am disqualified. But that’s not what I chose to do. I confessed my sin–meaning I admitted it was wrong. I repented of that sin–meaning I do not want to ever divorce again. And I trusted God could and would take my broken mess of a life and transform it back into His image.

To the LBGTQI+ community, my hope and my deepest desire for you is that you find the liberty and freedom that only God provides. I pray that you will finally discover the wonderful person God created you to become. Not the person you feel like you are. Not the person you used to be. And definitely not the person that others say you are. And He provides that liberty and freedom to anyone and everyone who who longs to live life abundantly, joyfully, and fully–fully alive in Jesus–and not the chaos and death of sin. Yes, we are all sinners. But when we absolutely and unconditionally surrender to Him and His will–it just like Paul said it would be:

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 (NLT)

THE DEMONIZATION OF THE BIBLE!

You can rationalize it all you want and justify the path of error you have chosen, but you’ll find out in the end that you took the road to destruction.

Proverbs chapter 14, verse 12; from The Passion Translation

Yep! I just said it! And I don’t take it back. If it’s offensive to you, then toughen up, buttercup! There are those who are demonizing the Holy Writ! I know, I know! That’s strong words; but sometimes strong words are needed. And this is such a time! It’s not a new thing that’s just happened. It’s been around for thousands of years. Heck, even the Master of the Demons tried this trick with Jesus. But it didn’t work on Jesus. And it doesn’t need to work on us, either!

For those keeping up with the soap opera known as The Schism Of The United Methodist Institution, it’s being played out in front of our eyes. Maybe I should define the contextualization (we hear this a lot) of my affirmation that Holy Scriptures are being demonized! Straight out of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, demonization means: “to portray (someone or something) as evil or as worthy of contempt or blame; to vilify“! Remember, this isn’t a new phenomena to the Twenty-First Century. Now, what I call demonization, others say, “Well, that’s my interpretation.” Or, “That’s just your interpretation.”

As part of our process for discernment and disaffiliation from the United Methodist Institution, we are required to listen to both sides of this issue. 8 days ago we heard about why the time is right and ripe to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Institution (UMI) and affiliate with the Global Methodist Church. This past Sunday we heard why we should remain in the United Methodist Institution (UMI). And their presentation was that there are just differing interpretations of Scripture–but the UMI is a Big Tent where we can all live together with those differing interpretations of Scripture. Sounds good right? But then there’s that pesky Solomon and his Book Of Proverbs. The New King James Version renders it like this: “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

I realize and accept that right now we are living in a world of grays. And that for many of us The Bible is Black and White; right and wrong; holy and unholy; blessed by God and not blessed by God. Granted, it seems like there are ways to understand the same passage in different ways. For example, 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 34:

Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Some say this is black and white. NO Women Preachers Allowed! Now, I can see how some interpret this to mean no women preachers. But “The Law” that Paul was referencing was Roman Law! Women were not allowed to interrupt speakers in public forums. Truth Time! They could not accuse their husbands of adultery. THEY could be accused, but they couldn’t accuse. And the whole of chapter 14 is about all the chaos that was happening when the Corinthians were, as we would say, “In Church”! And those who demand that there can be no women preachers demonize the prophet Joel, and the apostle Peter:

Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.

Joel chapter 2, verse 28; from the NLT

Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy.

Acts chapter 2, verses 14 thru 18; NLT (emphasis mine)

And today, because of “their” interpretations some want to change the Biblical Sexual Ethic by insisting that it’s OK to be LBGTQI and that they are just living out how God created them. For them, it’s all about love and grace. And that we can’t love them unless we also agree that God created them this way. Gray, Gray, and even more Gray. While I could excuse those who insist on no women preachers as being ignorant of Roman Law (and ignorant of the rest of the Bible), there is no gray in the Bible when it comes to sexuality and the sexual ethic:

“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’”  And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’

Matthew chapter 19, verses 4 and 5

Now, if Jesus correctly understood that Genesis chapter 2 is God’s design and plan, then there is no gray area left. Someone might say that Jesus was answering a Pharisee’s question about divorce. And He was; divorce was never God’s design and plan. And just like every other sin (except the Unpardonable one), it can be forgiven and the individuals get a fresh start. But to call the Biblical Sexual Ethic a gray area? And then justify that view by throwing in some other scriptures (out of their contextualization)? Well, one is demonizing the Holy Writ. And that’s just wrong. So very wrong!

RIDICULOUS!

It’s a crazy, crazy world! Or is it? Looking at the above snyonyms I am forced to conclude that it’s NOT crazy–but Ridiculous! I mean, how preposterous is it that good olf fashion science has been replaced by feelings? Yet this current culture wants to emphasize feelings over reality! Isn’t it ludicrous to ignore eons of scientific advance in favor of how one feels? How silly is it to abandon the facts of biology and pursue a life built around how one feels? It’s absurd to even contemplate that human beings are more capable to make important decisions based on feelings rather than scientific fact. It’s just plain

We see and hear this every day with increasing frequency! Even the truth can’t be told today without being accused of being mean, vicious, ugly, phobic, and full of hate. Here’s just one example from many that bears this out: Gender! Eons of biological facts have testified and verified that if one has a penis they are male and if they have a vagina they are female! (What? A preacherman using the words penis and vagina? Ridiculous!) This is the way it is–with the rare exception of a genetic abnormality of hermaphroditism, being born with both genatalia. It’s estimated that 1.7 percent of people are born with this condition. This can be blamed on Adam and Eve–along with tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and a plethera of natural disasters. Not only did Adam and Eve fall, so did all of creation! Oops, I am off-track. Back to my original thoughts.

Now days the number of genders has grown beyond two! One site on the World Wide Wacky Web says there are 72 different genders. Now, let me be very, very clear on this point I am making. I do not blame any of those who identify with any of those 72 alleged genders. If anything, my heart breaks for them. You see, they have been lied to! They are being told to ignore basic scientific law and replace it with how they feel. I blame those who promote and encourage this pseudo-science–all in the name of trying to make people feel better about themselves. And this attempt has utterly failed and created a culture of unhappy people that want to and actually blame their misery on us who just so happen to believe in the science and The Bible. (Yes, Virginia, you can embrace both factual science and The Bible.)

So, what are we to do? We who embrace the science and The Bible? We cannot afford to be silent–for the sake of the misguided. We can’t allow being called homophobic, xenophobic, mean, and hateful stop us from speaking the truth–In Love! Face the truth, some people are ugly and hateful towards the deceived. And this must stop IMMEDIATELY! There are ways to be both gracious and truthful–firm and loving–at the same time. Don’t allow their hate to make your hateful. And don’t allow their anger create anger in you! Feelings will never trump truth. Never!

LOVE LOWERS THE BAR! REALLY?

Love lowers the bar! That’s right, forget about Biblical Holiness, just love others as they are and forget everything else! What?????? Well, at least that’s what Progressives want everyone to believe. Over the years, our cousins–The Episcopal Church, and the United Methodist hierarchy have been exploring what they call “Communion”. In simplest terms, it means we recognize each others contributions to the Body of Christ, and will work together to further The Kingdom. But recently the Episcopals decided to put it on hold because of our current quagmire about human sexuality. The Episcopals have decided to wait until 2024 to see what our governing body decides about this issue, even though the issue was settled in 2019; a decision that hasn’t been followed hardly at all in the United Methdoist Church. (Read the article here)

What the progressives, or as I am prone to call them, Pro-Agressives, wants is for us to have a new God-Approved Definition of human sexuality. In other words, let each person decide–their gender, if they even have one, and with whom they want to have a sexual relationship. But wait! There’s more! One cannot love them unless they approve of their self-designed sexual designation! If you don’t approve–meaning it’s OK for them to be pastors and missionaries and such–then you hate them.

Their (twisted) logic is that Jesus came to show us what love looks like; and He loved everyone unconditionally–and this means He approves of their lifestyle, including sexual identity. Therefore, if we want to follow Jesus, then to love them we must place our stamp of approval on their lifestyle as well. So, when Jesus told the woman, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more”, He meant, “Now you are free to commit adultery, if that’s how you feel about yourself.” And when Jesus said, “Be holy as The Father is holy”, what Jesus meant was, “In about 2,000 years you will be smart enough to define what it means to be holy! Forget what the Bible actually says. You get to decide! That is, if you will approve of what others believe!” (If you would like to read some of the comments about this article, go to the United Methodist News Facebook Page.)

Crazy, crazy, and more craziness! Right? And since we as human beings love to point the finger of blame at someone, where do we place the blame for this craziness? Personally, I want to blame the fundamentalists, for they are the 21st Century Pharisees. And we all know how Jesus felt about Pharisees! I would like to blame the Churchians and Tenured Pew sitters who want people to be conformed to their opinions rather than be Transformed by the mind of Christ. I would like to blame the Pro-Agressives for demanding their view be the only view. But then, I would miss the mark of who is really to blame.

And who is to blame? The answer is clear: Satan! He rejects The Truth and promotes The Lies. If anyone knows about the trickiness of Satan, it’s Peter. Remember, he denied Jesus 3 times. But later on, Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” He has devoured this culture by those who have bought into his lie that we are smart enough to define Holiness for us today. Well, that’s just a bald-faced lie! Wake up, folks! We can love everyone without condemning them. And we can love them without putting the church’s stamp of approval on their life choices. To some it may sound crazy to say this–but it is what it is!

What The What?

Dysphoria–it’s a word frequently used in our culture–especially in the realm of gender identity. And it is being especially applied to children and adolescences. There was a time when Genesis 1 verse 27 was sufficient: “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” This was the rule–with the exception of chromosomal abnormalities. Simple, look below the waist–and there’s your gender, period!

But with the inflation and over evaluating of the most unreliable of human sensations–that of ‘feelings’–we now have multiple choices. Gee, whiz! How could God get this so wrong! The term “gender dysphoria” which Child Mind Institute defines is this:

Gender dysphoria was created as a distinct disorder to clarify that being transgender, or identifying as a gender different from the one of your birth, is not in itself a psychiatric disorder. The new disorder was meant to remove the stigma from being transgender, and to shift the concern of mental health professionals to assisting those for whom the experience of being transgender has resulted in significant distress and impaired functioning.

https://childmind.org/guide/guide-to-gender-dysphoria/

Recently in Tuscaloosa, Alabama a father was interviewed about this very issue. He was affirming that his son, now his daughter, has every right to make such a life-changing decision and encouraged other parents who have dysphoric children to enable their children to follow his example. But what IF–the parents said to that child, “Look, we feel like you are more of a daughter than a son. And we want to help you, make the necessary decisions for you to become our daughter. After all, that is how we feel about you.”

Does this really make sense to you? To anyone? Some would reply, “It’s not up to you and how you feel. You have neither the intellect or wherewithal to make such a decision!” But what if their feelings are very real? Shouldn’t they have this right based on their feelings? When one insists that it is legitimate to travel on the road of feelings, this is where that road will eventually AND inevitably lead us.

The real dysphoria of out is not about gender identity–the dysphoria is about the Truth–to be exact–the source of Truth. Do you know what the word dysphoria means? It’s not psychobabble invented by psychiatrists. It means: melancholy, restlessness, despondency. As long as one lives outside The Truth of God’s Design for life–dysphoria is where we will live, and where we will die.

Critical Hostage Situation Growing–Throw It Out There Thursday 20 February 2020

(WARNING: Throw It Out There Thursday posts examines social, cultural, political and religious issues without consideration of political correctness nor prevailing theories. Reader discretion is therefore advised.)

This edition of Throw It Out There Thursday is a little later than the others because I’ve been busy doing research and homework; something that many social, cultural, political and religious theorists have a difficult time doing. I’ve looked at this from many angles and perspectives; and my conclusion is that that are millions of hostages out there. Most don’t even realize they are a hostage–but their captors know they are. What’s a hostage?

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Now that you know the definition of “hostage” and now that you have been made aware that there is a current hostage situation, you may be wondering, “Who are the hostages?” The hostages are those are identified within the LBGTQ+ Community. Look again at those definitions of the word hostage. How can you NOT say that the LBGTQ+ Community is not being held hostage? Think about it.

It is a scientific and biological fact that there are only 3 genders. Male, female, and a rare anomaly affecting approximately 1.7 percent of people born with genitalia of both male and female. Social scientists, cultural hacks, and half-wit theologians have decided that an unproven truth is a fact without consistently reproducible results. They have declared that “gender” is a spectrum where people can choose where they land based on a feeling or desire. Biological science has been abandoned and the result is that there are millions of people held bondage to the Dr. Feel-Good plan of life.

Ben Shapiro took on this lie on 17 February 2017 in a question and answer session after a speech he gave at Ferris State University. When dealing with the transgender issue here is some of what Ben had to say:

The idea that sex or gender is malleable is not true. I’m not denying your humanity if you are a transgender person; I am saying that you are not the sex which you claim to be. You’re still a human being, and you’re a human being with an issue then I wish you Godspeed in dealing with it in any whatever way you see fit, but if you’re going to dictate to me that I’m supposed to pretend, I’m supposed to pretend that men are women and women are men, no. My answer is no. I’m not going to- I’m not going to modify basic biology because it threatens your subjective sense of what you are.

Ben Shapiro

Gender Dysphoria, Sexual ethics–based on a theological, psychological and sociological unproven theory. This has fed a lie to those who are most vulnerable–and have created a bondage of sexual dysfunction and dysphoria. Yet, fundamentalists and some conservatives have villainized them. Would we villainize a group of people held captive by terrorists? Would we speak evil of them, blame them for their situation?

They are held as hostages by charlatans who feed them a steady diet of what these scam-artists consider to be liberating truth. They aren’t interesting in liberating, but creating a culture that justifies their own over-inflated sense of self-importance in an ostentatious attempt to exert their mental supremacy. So they capture and hold hostage those who are most vulnerable to their nonsensical drivel. These impotent thinkers want to create socially constructed genders rather than accept biologically provided genders.

I do not see the LBGTQI+ Community with disdain or hated. I see them for who they are, hostages to the inane and sophomoric views of those who see themselves as the intellectually and spiritually elite. They are discouraged from thinking any other way about themselves than the way they tell them to think about themselves. Remember that one of the definitions of hostage is someone who is made a prisoner in order to force other people to do something. These pseudo-quasi-thinkers wants everyone to agree with them, so they hold the LBGTQI+ Community hostage. Do the science. Do the math. And please, please, please, don’t be mad the LBGTQI+ Community, they are hostages that need to be set free. Jesus declared that one of the reasons He came was to deliver the captives. I am praying and seeking for ways for God to use me in this Kingdom Task.

The Not So Simple Plan

 

I don’t know how many of you will read this post to the end because…..well because it is primarily about my Tribe, the United Methodist Church.  But I would encourage you to hang with this post because it will have something that is a reflection of our culture….and a challenge to those who are more than fans of Jesus.

Here’s a brief background for this post.  In the United Methodist Tribe, our “official” group that develops our official “beliefs” and “social principles” is called the General Conference and it meets once every 4 years.  These “beliefs” are published each 4 years in what we call The Book of Discipline, or called “The Discipline” for short..  Since 1972 our official “stand” on human sexuality is that all persons are equally in need of God’s grace and are people of worth and should be allowed to attend any United Methodist congregation (we turn no one away).  However, the only form of “sex” that has God’s blessings is that of a monogamous marriage between a man and a woman.  We further believe that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching and that no self-avowed or practicing homosexual is eligible for licensing, commissioning or ordination in the United Methodist Church.  This has been our stand since 1972.  Every 4 years attempts have been made to declare other forms of sexuality are OK and that the Bible is wrong.  Yet each time our wording, that I consider to be most gracious yet true to the Biblical Standards for sexuality, has been preserved by the General Conference.

However, in recent years, there has been open disobedience without much in the way of consequences for this rebellion.  Clergy and Bishops have broken their vows to support  and maintain the standards set in The Discipline.  In 2016, this General Conference was facing the same attempts to change our Discipline to declare that homosexuality is now OK.  Some attempts to change our stand had already been voted down by the body when a motion was presented and passed to form what we call the Commission On A Way Forward.  A group of individuals were selected by the Bishops to serve on this Commission with the charge to form a plan that would settle this issue once and for all.

After several meetings they formed 3 plans that will be submitted to a called session of General Conference in February 2019.  I won’t go into all 3 of those plans, but I refer you to the website and you can read for yourself. (Click Here for the Report of Commission on Finding A Way Forward).  But I will give you my summary of those 3 plans:

1. The Traditional Plan:  Maintains our current wording and belief but with mandatory penalties for those who violate The Discipline.
2. The One Church Plan:  Every church, every lay person, every pastor, every Annual Conference determines their own view of human sexuality–without fear of penalties for anyone who disagrees.  Summation:  YOU get to choose.
3. The Connectional Plan:  Regional Conferences would be formed based solely on their views of human sexuality and then churches and pastors select which Conference they want to be aligned with.

I’ve said a lot and could have said even more.  At the risk of sounding like a late night Infomercial Hawker….but wait, there’s more!

Now a group has come up with and will present what they call “The Simple Plan” (Click here for that report).  It will remove all of what is termed “restrictive language” concerning homosexuality and ordination in the United Methodist Church.  Let me say this:  to my gay friends, you are my friends and I love each one of you.  I am not judging you or your relationship with Jesus if you have one.  I am, however, maintaining my conviction that the Bible IN CONTEXT is the source of authority for life and faith.    Furthermore I do not consider you or any gay person an abomination.  I reserve that term for churchians and tenured pew sitters.  After all, it was only towards the “really religious” folks that Jesus was ever tort or gruff.

Here is what The Simple Plan seeks to accomplish, in my humble opinion:

1. The Elimination of The Bible as the source of morality, faith and life.  If it can’t be trusted in the arena of human sexuality, how can it be trusted anywhere?  Taken to its conclusion–God is nothing at all like the Bible portrays Him and this includes the concept of God being Gracious and Merciful.  The Simple Plan declares that The Bible is unreliable.
2. It reduces the Creation Saga to a fanciful myth and pigment of the imagination of writers.  In the Creation Saga, God establishes all order, including human sexuality.  The gift of sex is reserved for husband (man) and wife (woman).  Only this act of intimacy has God’s blessings.  All other sex is outside the blessing and approval of God.  Notice, I did say ALL other sex, not just same gender sex.  The Simple Plan reduces the Creation Saga to a mythological context with no real application for today.
3. It promotes feelings as the final determinant for what is authoritative for life in the Church.  For millennia, the people of God have relied upon The Bible.  Granted, it’s been misused and taken out of context to justify all kinds of immoral behavior and systems.  But it was, and should continue to be, the Guide for determining holiness of both heart and life.  The Simple Plan throws out this Sacred Writ for what we believe about ourselves–not what God says.
4. It reduces humanity to the status of slaves and prisoners.  I know that some liberal-progressive-ProAgressive (a term a friend uses and I have to agree with it) will argue me that The Simple Plan doesn’t created slaves and prisoners–rather it liberates.  Not so fast, bucko!  You are defining people by whom they want to have sex with–i.e.–that humans beings are nothing more than sexual beings.  Sex creates bondage when it is engaged in outside the place that is blessed by God.  The Simple Plan says that a person is identified by their sexual partner, rather than the whole person.
5. It closes the door for personal transformation.  This is akin to Point 2, but goes deeper.  The Simple Plan closes the door to the act of God’s Grace to change and transform us from sinner to saint.  It avoids even the hint of sin, ergo, without sin we do not need to experience change.  All we need is to declare that God has created and blessed who we really are.  There is no model for personal transformation, but emphasizes self-acceptance.
6. Finally, The Simple Plan demonizes everyone who disagrees with the plan.  While insisting that they be heard, they refuse to listen to other views and resort to calling them bigots and declaring they really don’t know Jesus.

In reality, The Simple Plan is nothing really new.  In fact, it’s rather old.  I mean, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY old.  It goes back to Eden.  The Simple Plan promotes the lie that Satan told Eve and Adam.  “Look, you can be–you NEED to be your own God.  Forget what God said.  Be who you want to be.  This fruit is just what you need to be a complete person–and your own God.”

You see, in reality, nothing is simple about sin.  It is convoluted and destroys those who allow it to define them.  My prayer, and my hope, is that the Tribe for which I have been a part of for 62 years–The Tribe where God called me to serve–will adopt The Traditional Plan.  And if not–then I know God will lead me to where I can continue to experience transformation and offer transformation to a world led astray by The Serpent’s Lie.

The Big Lie!

Yesterday afternoon I was at the Opening Session for our Tribe’s thing called “Annual Conference”.  It was my 43rd consecutive Conference.  For “outsiders”, Annual Conference is this thing that when all is said and done, more is said than done.  Bishop Sharma Lewis preached for our opening Worship, and normally I would have considered it a great and powerful message.  She chose the passage from Colossians 3, verse 12 and it was about putting on the new clothes of love and she presented us with a great question:  What are you wearing?

Normally, I know there’s nothing normal about me in many folks eyes, but that’s their problem, I would have really been inspired by the message.  I mean, what’s better than wearing the new clothes of love.  Or, as The Message puts it:

Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. 

But this crisis that the United Methodist Tribe is facing, has caused me to have this deep-seated thought that Bishop Lewis was only telling half of the story–literally a half-truth.  And a half-truth is at its root and core, a lie!  As I was talking to God about this “disappointment” in my heart, it hit me.  She, like so many in our culture today, didn’t talk about the first part of Paul’s letter.  Yes, be clothed in God’s love–after all, it’s His personal label.  But….

But these new clothes don’t fit or look well as long as you keep wearing the “old” clothes underneath them.  He starts off in Verses 1-2

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

It’s one of the few things I remember from my cemetery, excuse me, seminary days–that a text without its context is only a pretext.  Bishop Lewis never mentioned verses 1 and 2.  And there’s more to the context, and it’s summed up in verse 5

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

Our Tribe is being asked to change our church polity and order to accommodate what is now called “Progressive” theology.  We are being asked to give up the traditional view of human sexuality in order to not only accommodate our culture–but here’s the BIG LIE–but because of God’s love, it’s OK to be “gay”.  Progressive theology on human sexuality says that God created some people “gay”, ergo, it’s no longer a sin.  Just wear love!

Yet how can anyone put on God’s love, wear these perfectly fitting clothes, IF we continue to wearing the old clothes?  The truth is, the painful truth is, you can’t!  In the south we would say it like this, and for you poor unfortunate souls who aren’t in the south, I will help translate this for you:  Put a silk dress on a sow (NOUN: a female pig) and she’s still a sow, and she’ll get that silk dress muddy.  And we cannot wear God’s New Designer Label of Love until we get rid of the old clothes of sin.

I say this not from the “high ground” of being morally superior to others, but from the “low ground” of realizing that I still have sin in me.  I admit that I’m broken and am always turning back to God to help put shed off the old clothes so that I can be fitted with the right clothes.  Those who insist that sexuality outside of the husband (man) and wife (woman), in other words, being “gay”, is their identity.  There is no offer of personal transformation into the identity that has nothing to do with sex–but everything to do with The Creator.

Progressives offer no hope for a new identity–just put on the new clothes of love without ever taking off the old clothes of, as The Message puts it, “doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.”  I am wondering now, could it be that the suicide rate is above average in the LBGTQI community, especially among teens who feel or believe they are gay, because they are not offered Hope–hope for not just a new identity–but their TRUE identity.  A person’s true identity is found in their relationship with God–NOT with whom they are having sex.

And my heart breaks for the LBGTQI community because they have been told to believe that there is no way to shed their old clothes for the new designer clothes.  As long as we try to wear the Divine Designer Clothes of Love OVER the old clothes doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy you will never be able to wear them as they are designed.

I’m not saying homosexuality is the worst sin.  And it certainly isn’t the only thing that can be called an abomination.  Proverbs 6:16-19 (NLT) describes those things this way:

¹⁷ There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,
¹⁸ a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong,
¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

One time I was asked, “Bro. Randy, what do you think is the worst sin?  Rejecting Jesus?”  I think my response shocked her.  I said, “No, even that’s not the worst sin.  I believe that the worst sin is the one that makes God want to vomit–and that is being lukewarm (Revelation 3:16).  No other condition, no other sin that I can find in the Bible makes God want to puke.  I just noticed something–3:16.  One 3:16 tells us we can have eternal life (John 3:16).  This other 3:16 says we make God want to puke, and thus, be eternally separated from Him.

I am smart enough, wise enough, and humble enough to know that I still have times when I try to wear God’s Designer Jeans over my filthy yard clothes.  They don’t fit, they don’t look good because that’s not the way these “Designer Jeans” are “DESIGNED” to be worn.  We have to put off the old in order to wear the new.  So I pray, pray hard first for me to be sure I’m not trying to wear the new over the old.  Second, I pray hard for the LBGTQI community to stop believing the Great Lie.  And third, I pray for those who are deceiving the LBGTQI community WITH the Great Lie.

Before new life happens–before we can experience the Resurrection Life–there are things that need to, MUST die in all of us.  Otherwise, we’re just an old sow wearing a silk dress.  That’s not how this works!

We Are More Than Our Feelings

This morning I was reading 1 John chapter 1.  My reason was simple:  I was practicing what I preach.  Imagine that, a preacher actually doing what he or she preaches.  I was reading for the sake of listening to God.  No Bible study prep time or sermon prep or looking for my next blog.  Just reading, and listening.  Two things jumped out at me this morning:  Light versus Darkness.  In other words, sin versus Holiness.  And it got me to thinking about a common experience among us humans:  Feelings.  No, not the song (bet that got some of you hearing that song in your head), but that complex and complicated arena of human feelings.  In my thinking this morning, there 4 basic categories of feelings through which any particular feeling would fall into.

First there are what I term Emotional Feelings.  Thanks to this thing called emojis we have a way to express our emotions with a picture–happy, sad, confused, angry, disgusted and so forth.  I believe that God created us to have emotions.  After all God has His emotions–joy and sadness, love and hate, compassion and firmness are just a few.  Unfortunately we are not like Spock, not the infamous child psychologist, but the one on the Starship Enterprise, who could detach himself from silly emotions.  Emotions are our initial response to what happens to us in life.

Second are what I classify as Psychological Feelings.  These are those emotions that we have processed through our thinking and become a resident in our psyche.  Distrust, hopeful, optimistic, pessimistic, prejudice, accepting, doubting, inquisitive–these are just a few of what I would term as psychological feelings.  Often our intellectual reasoning is influenced here more than anywhere else.  Our phobias fall into this classification of feelings.  Phobias go deeper that just an initial response–they are deeply rooted in the human psyche.  This human psyche is another part of how God created us.  These are what influences how we see people and situations.  On the darker side, you see it resulting in sociopaths,  narcissists, or psychopaths.

Third are what I call Spiritual Feelings.  These are rooted even deeper than our psyche–they are rooted in what some call the heart or the soul.  This is our moral compass.  It, more than anything else, shapes and forms our values, of what is right and what is wrong.  Our spiritual feelings also creates our sense of guilt and shame, as well as our feelings of joy (which are deeper than feelings of happiness) and contentment.

And last, but by no means least, is what I term as our “Biological Feelings“.  In our culture, and in my own Tribe, this is a subject of great controversy.  It could easily be argued that biological feelings are at the root of psychosomatic illnesses.  (You know what psychosomatics want on their tombstone:  “I Told You I Was Sick!”)  But these feelings go deeper.  It is the root of the crisis of sexual identity.  Gays and transgendered hold on to that biological sense that they were born with same-gender attractions or were born the wrong gender all together.  Thus, they are free to act upon and direct the future of their lives based on what they call, this biological fact.  I know my gay friends will disagree with my next point but I still love and care about you.  It is still rooted in a feeling, be it biological, it is still a feeling.

And unfortunately, many people self-identify through their feelings.  Thus these words from 1 John 1:5-10 (NLT) speak another word:

⁵ This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.  ⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

Each type of “feelings” bleeds over into all the others.  Unlike Spock who prides himself in being detached from all emotions/feelings, we are humans, not Vulcans.  And this mishmash of emotions are causing people to live beneath and below their created design.  This reliance on feelings has created such things as The New Pharisees, Tenured Pew Sitters, Churchians, people who feel they are worthless, permanent failures, unloved, abandoned, and so many other words that reveal our brokenness.  Moral labels that people wear eventually will destroy them.

And I believe that this has resulted in the sexual crisis in our culture, and in the hearts and minds of those who identify as LBGTQI.  This sexual chaos and confusion, this creation of moral labels as well, is the direct result of this thing called “sin”.  Geneticists tell us that we have our own unique DNA.  But one day I foresee that they will eventually discover that every human being shares one gene equally–that it’s the same gene in all of us.  I hope they call it for what it is:  The Adam and Eve Gene!  While the New Pharisees, Tenured Pew Sitters and Churchians vehemently deny its existence in themselves, it remains true that all of us have that gene–and somewhere we are all broken–in different places and ways–but nonetheless BROKEN!

How we feel, what we think or believe we are, is not final–even in the arena of sexual identity.  Ever since the Adam and Eve Gene formed in their DNA and was passed along to every generation–God has been seeking to redeem and restore us who bear His Image.  When we live by our, call it “feelings” or “beliefs” about ourselves, we live within a lie and deny ourselves the only hope and cure to live life richly and with great purpose.

God invites us on a journey to wholeness–becoming whole emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, biologically and sexually.  He alone, through the Holy Spirit, can transform us into our original intended design.  We do not have to become a prisoner to our feelings, especially sexually.  If you are someone who thinks you have no choice about your sexual identity, I want you to listen to Sam Allberry (here’s a link to part of his story).  All of us are more than what we “feel”–for every feeling, every emotion, every way we self-identify is tainted by sin.

Be more than how you feel–because you ARE more than that.  Get off that “emotional” roller-coaster and sit down, sit down at the feet of Jesus.  Take whatever time is necessary for you to discover the true you, the YOU that God designed and created.  You are more than a label, a feeling, an emotion, or a desire.  Jesus brings the Light of God’s truth.  Follow that light and you will become whole–the person God created to bear His Image!  In Sam Allberry’s words:  Identity is something God gives us.  We do not create it or discover it.  It is GIVEN to us by God.

But What About…???

If you are not a United Methodist, or have not been following “The Great Controversy”, or are simply a United Methodist who has had their head buried in the sand while hoping “The Great Controversy” will just go away, these words from my heart and mind will probably not mean much to you and you will just pass over these words.  As “The Preacher”, called by God’s infinite Grace and ordained by God and my Tribe, I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to speak into “The Great Controversy”.  I do this with great humility because I know I am far from perfect; but I also know that God, through the Holy Spirit, is working on my imperfections.

To my friends who identify themselves as “gay”, and to my friends who support being “gay” as being acceptable to God, I know we are on different sides of this “The Great Controversy” and my heart and mind could cause you to “unfriend” me.  I pray that our connection is deeper than one issue.  I believe it is.

In a recent small group I was leading that focused on the question of human sexuality, the question was asked of me:  “Can a person be gay and be a Christian?”  Because I had spent a lot of time in prayer and meditation in The Bible before we began this small group, I know it was the Holy Spirit that inspired my response.  I replied, “Can a person who cheats on their income tax be a Christian?  Can a person who steals office supplies from work be a Christian?  Can a person who engages in premarital or extramarital sex be a Christian?  My answer is yes.  But one cannot be fully formed and developed in Christ as long as any sin remains in us.”  And to my hyper-conservative friends (and foes), I ask again that you refrain from using that horrible word “abomination” against the LBGTQ community.  Truth is, all expressions of sin is an abomination to God.  Those who insist that they don’t struggle with some recurring sin is not, in my humble opinion, being honest.  What they have done is made peace with their “sin of choice”.  And now the reason I am writing this blog.

That body known as the “Commission On A Way Forward” shared their report to our bishops.   (You can read about this report here.)  While I have been hopeful about the work of the Commission, I am not surprised by their report, nor am I surprised by the response of some of our bishops; and this deeply saddens me.

The article (you can see the entire article here) opens with this line:  “Placing emphasis on the values of unity, space and contextuality – all for the sake of mission – the Council of Bishops (COB) is exploring sketches of three models as possible directions for a way forward for The United Methodist Church over LGBTQ inclusion.”  But what about The Bible?  Does it no longer hold any value?  Is unity, space and contextuality more important than Truth?  More important than God’s Grace that transforms us into HIS image?

Here are the “options” presented to the bishops:

• Affirm the current Book of Discipline language and place a high value on accountability. The church policy book says the practice of homosexuality “is incompatible with Christian teaching” and lists officiating at a same-gender union or being a “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy member as chargeable offenses under church law.
• Remove restrictive language and place a high value on contextualization. This sketch also specifically protects the rights of those whose conscience will not allow them to perform same-gender weddings or ordain LGBTQ persons.
• Create multiple branches that have clearly defined values such as accountability, contextualization and justice.  In other words, “Choose which branch of the United Methodist Church you like. “

And what about The Bible?  Everything in each “option” is about “their view”.  And thus the source of humanity’s mess that goes back to “the view” of Adam and Eve.  Truth is that our view can and will violate God’s view without a commitment to and trust in God’s intended design and purposes.  I realize that mean and vicious people have twisted the Bible to fit their views rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to renew and transform what can only be called stickin’ thinkin’  so that we may be formed in God’s intent and design.  But alas, it seems the church that God used to save this wretch like me, would rather I and others, even everyone, be formed by “their view” than transformed by God’s truth.

So, as I await the decision coming in February 2019 from the governing body of my Tribe, a Tribe of which I have been in my entire life, I have made my decision.  My decision is to become the person God intends for me to become and be faithful to His design.  After all, HE created me.  Furthermore, as one called out because of God’s grace, I will no longer be tied to a group that emphasizes feelings over truth.  I grieve deeply over this informed decision in my heart, but I will be faithful to this decision with deep humility.  Though I grew up in the United Methodist Church, and have served Jesus for over 43 years in this church, I probably will not finish my race in this life in this Tribe if the decision is “choose your own way”.  As Joshua challenged the Hebrews, his challenge is now before me from Joshua 24:15 (NIV)

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

It is better to serve the Lord…and this is my choice, my only “option”…