Doug Mainwaring: The Fight Against Marriage

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The heart of the Same Sex Marriage war is spiritual not political or legal.

 

A former gay activist now a christian reflects on this. From lifesitenews.com Doug Mainwaring writes:

If you think the gay ‘marriage’ fight is over, you don’t understand the nature of the war

Christians,Homosexuality,Lgbt,Same-Sex ‘Marriage’,Sexual Revolution,Traditional Marriage

September 27, 2016 (Public Discourse) — Up until now, I’ve used only secular arguments involving logic, reason, and experience to address the issue of same-sex marriage. That’s how I first came to think about the issue. But as I explained at Public Discourse last year, once I began thinking, reasoning, and examining my life, an extraordinary thing happened: I couldn’t stop. Reason led me to acknowledge natural law, which led me to begin rejecting some of my former ways of thinking and acting. Reason then led me to recognize God.

I am now a Christian, and even though I am same-sex attracted—or, more likely, because I am same-sex attracted—I marvel at the extraordinary significance of marriage in God’s eternal plan. Marriage is under siege because it stands at the heart of the Good News of the Gospel.

I am neither a philosopher nor a theologian, and I possess no advanced degree, but I try to be an informed observer and reasoning contributor as best I can. As a former apologist for the sexual revolution, and as a gay man who once promoted same-sex marriage, here’s what I’ve concluded.

No matter what you read or hear, the heart of the battle over the redefinition of marriage and genderlessness in culture is not found in our courts, legislatures, ballot boxes, or media. This is not a tug of war between political parties, between left and right, conservative and liberal. Likewise, this is not a battle of “gay versus straight.” And while focusing on religious liberty is an absolutely necessary pursuit, if it stands by itself, it too misses the mark.

Taken as a whole, this is a war of one kingdom against another. At its heart, this is a spiritual battle.

Accepting this as a spiritual battle has profound personal ramifications. We must each examine and deal with our own spiritual passivity and culpability in casually embracing the ways of the world. Each of us bears responsibility. This battle hinges on one thing: the creation of a vibrant marriage culture based on the participation of millions of individuals who value and commit themselves to the spiritual truth about marriage. These people must commit themselves not only to the structural, traditional aspects of marriage, but also to its vitally important spiritual component. The future rests on our shoulders—yours and mine.

Many now chide those of us who oppose the notion of same-sex marriage, telling us, “The battle over marriage has been decided. Move on.” And for the time being, as a political reality, this may be true. However, there is a much larger, far more important reality that must be acknowledged: spiritual reality. While the political battle may be over for a brief time, the spiritual battle is just beginning.

 

 

Read the rest here

Reflection on 2 Timothy 1:1-14

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+1.1-14

Scripture

Yet I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Observation

Paul thanks God for Timothy, being reminded of his sincere faith handed down from his grandmother and mother.

He reminds Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God that was imparted to him by the laying on of hands. The Spirit is not about timidity but about power, faith and self-discipline.

God saves us and calls us to a life of holiness. This grace was given in Christ before the beginning of time. But has only now been revealed. Christ has destroyed death and brought immortality through the gospel.

Application

Two gifts from God are given to us to equip us for eternity.

Firstly there is the gospel, the message of salvation that sets us free from sin and death and brings us into the light and eternal life.

Then there is the Holy Spirit- the spirit of power, love and self-control. It is the Holy Spirit who equips us to live our lives for Christ.

Paul tells Timothy he must fan into flame the gift that was placed in him. We do this through prayer and obedience. As we take baby steps in the life of the Spirit we become mature and live in the fullness of what Christ created us to be.

Prayer

Holy Spirit I receive as a deposit that gift you have placed in me. Help me to grow in all of yout gifts and become effective in your kingdom. Amen.

Reflection on Lamentations 1:1-6

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=lamentations+1.1-6

Oh my city, my home

What has become of you?

The empty street and shops

Bombed out houses

In vacated suburbs

Speak of death and disaster.

Oh my city, my home

The dwelling of Yahweh

The envy of the nations

The focus of the world

We ask “Why?”

But no answer comes.

Oh my city my home

Australia’s shame

We have left the ancient paths

The holy ways of God

Can our own exile be delayed?

Official: Gays Are Not “Born That Way”

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After insisting for decades that homosexuality was a lifestyle choice, gay activists did a U-turn when they saw that they could use civil rights theory to demand recognition, an end to discrimination and even the right to “marriage equality.”

Psychologists have argued that sexuality id very plastic (i.e. determined by our choices) b

 

 

NEWSHOMOSEXUALITYThu Sep 22, 2016 – 9:42 am EST

APA researcher explodes myth: Gays aren’t ‘born that way’

American Psychological Association , Gender Fluidity , Homosexuality , Lisa Diamond ,Research

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 22, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — A top researcher with the American Psychological Association (APA) and lesbian activist has acknowledged that gays are not “born that way.”

Dr. Lisa Diamond, co-editor-in-chief of the APA Handbook of Sexuality and Psychology and one of the APA’s “most respected members,” says sexual orientation is “fluid” and not unchangeable.

As clinical psychologist Dr. Laura A. Haynes summarizes Diamond’s APA Handbook chapters, her book and YouTube lectures, “The battle to disprove ‘Born that way and can’t change’ is now over, and (Diamond) is telling LGBT activists to stop promoting the myth.”

Contrary to the typical argument that homosexuals are “born gay” as “who they are” and cannot change, the APA officially recognized sexual orientation change in 2011.

Diamond summarized relevant findings in a lecture at Cornell University (2013), stating that abundant research has now established that sexual orientation — including attraction, behavior, and self-identity — is fluid for both adolescents and adults and for both genders.

This flies in the face of recent laws promoted by gay activists and passed in several states banning “reparative therapy,” which seeks to help patients experiencing same-sex attraction to change.

The stated justification for anti-reparative therapy laws is that anyone who experiences same-sex attraction is not only gay and born gay, but his/her homosexuality is unchangeable and so “reparative therapy,” it is argued, is not only unfruitful but cruel.  The argument goes, “You can’t change who you are.”

Additionally, many gay activists call sexual orientation “the civil rights issue of our time,” and analogous to race. Diamond and the APA, however, refute this argument.

Fr. Johannes Jacobse, founder of The American Orthodox Institute, called Diamond’s “course correction” a “stunning reversal” of oft-repeated gay justification. “Sexuality desire is fluid, homosexual desire is not ‘hard-wired;’ that ‘born that way and can’t change’ is a myth; feelings don’t overrule volition (behavior is a choice, one does not need to act on every feeling — especially sexual feelings); the ‘born that way’ argument is political, not scientific; sexual orientation is subject to change among others.”

“The idea that what a person feels defines who he is — who God created him to be — is false,” Fr. Jacobse wrote. “If a person feels homosexual desire, it does not mean he is created homosexual.”

“If a person decides to engage in homosexual behavior, that decision is freely chosen, even if the desire is not,” Jacobse summarized. “If a person experiences homosexual desire and wishes to change into more normative heterosexuality, abundant evidence exists that such a change may indeed be possible.

Read the full article here

 

Of Gerberas, Grief and Dogs

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Twenty days ago, ironically enough on Father’s Day, we received one of those late night door knocks that only ever bring bad news. Our daughter, just 10 weeks or so from giving birth to our first grandchild, had noticed that the baby had stopped moving. The doctors at the hospital had been unable to find a heart beat and the fate of the baby would be confirmed with an ultrasound the following morning.

Sometimes the journey that we think we are travelling is abruptly ended, changed to a completely different one with a destination that nobody could foresee and that nobody wants.

Last week at the memorial service for baby Henry we were to  release a helium balloon. As I left to collect it Margaret asked me to buy some small flowering plants to put near the water feature near the church door to add some colour. A couple of pots of gerberas with bright yellow flowers were perfect.

 

gerberas

After the service was over, I planted them in some pots in the garden expecting them to be here to remind us of the grandson who isn’t here. But this morning I found this:

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There was no doubt who the culprit was.

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I was so angry, sad and despondent.

On the one hand it is just $20 worth of plants- another item on this horrible dog’s tally of destruction. But on the other hand, it touched me at a level of my soul because of the connection of these flowers to baby Henry. It is irrational but the destruction of these plants brought to the surface a new collection of emotions that needed to be felt and understood.

Today was a difficult day, but not just for my own grief. I heard of a father who died after an illness of several years whose family has literally been barely surviving for that time. I heard of the struggle of a good friend in a difficult marriage. I know of another young father who is about to die from an aggressive leukaemia.

And over the last few weeks we have heard of people with seemingly happy families and lovely children who have suffered a similar loss to ours.

The worst thing about being a parent is that you can’t fix the really important things in your children’s lives. Love for others allows us to share their joys, but it multiplies our capacity for hurt.

All of this points to the limitless capacity of God’s love to us. While two sets of parents were trying to help their son and daughter through an awful time there were little gracelets that brought light into the darkness. There were smiles in the tears brought to us by a loving Father who knows what it’s like to lose a Son.

So we walk a path we did not choose, and would not if it were ours to choose.

But we know that God is walking with us.

 

 

The Powerful Reason We Keep Getting Out Of Bed

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Ann Voskamp captures it with passion and precision to remind us why we get out of bed every morning.

SEPTEMBER.23.2016

The Powerful Reason Why We All Have To Keep Getting Out of Bed — That Changes a Broken World

A HOLY EXPERIENCE

When I saw it plastered on a wall somewhere in the city, it brought me up short.

I stepped back a few steps, stood there in front of it like a fool farm hick.

Blazoned across the three panels like a wakeup call:

Why do you get out of bed in the morning? 

Some dare devil’s pictured on the billboard plunges off his surfboard:Fear of Failure 

An astronaut lashes himself in for launch:  The Need to Succeed

Some guy holds a a curling cat:The Love of Your Life

And I mean —

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There’s work towering over you like a toppling avalanche about ready to bury you a couple feet deep, mocking you to go ahead and just try to get of bed. There’s bills stacked up like a deafening demand. There’s people counting on you and you’re counting on someOne stronger than you to get you through.

Why in the world do you get out of bed in the morning? 

Read the rest here

Reflection on Luke 16:9-31

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Luke16v19to31_2001.jpg

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+16.9-31

Scripture

“He said to them, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone returns from the dead.’”

Observation

Jesus tells a story of a rich man who lived in luxury every day. A beggar named Lazarus lived in misery at his gate.

Both the beggar and the rich man die. Lazarus is taken to heaven but the rich man goes to Hades to be tormented. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to him to cool his tongue with a drop of water. Abraham says that no one can cross from heaven to Hades.

The rich man then asks for Lazarus to be sent to warn his brothers. Abraham tells him that hey have the Law and the Prophets, and not even the testimony of a resurrected man will convince them.

Application

We often think that if only God would do something spectacular then people would have to believe. There have been testimonies from around the world of people being raised from the dead. These experiences affect the person who has been raised and their immediate family, but seem to make little difference to the wider circle of people around them.

The rich man in the story remained unconverted even after death. He still thought that he was in control and that Lazarus was no better than a slave who was there to meet his demands. It seems that even judgement and hell will leave some people unchanged.

If spectacular death experiences leave people unchanged, what will change them? What does it take to persuade people? The key to changing hearts is prayer together with the story of God’s Good News. Only this will soften hearts that are closed to God.

Prayer

Lord please show me who I should pray for and talk to about Jesus. Amen.

Why Men Should Not Be Pastors

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A bit of satirical humour to give you a smile, wry or otherwise.


10 reasons men should not be pastors

“A man’s place is in the army.”

So starts David M. Scholer’s satirical list of 10 reasons why men shouldn’t be pastors. Most of you have probably seen the list before; it’s been around a number of years. We’re sharing it as a reminder that humor can be very helpful when discussing a hot button issue like women in ministry. (And to do our part to keep this great piece in circulation!).

Keep in mind that Scholer’s purpose here is NOT to put men down, but to use satire to show that many of the arguments used to restrict women from pastoral roles are rooted in cultural expectations and gender norms. And so without further ado:

10. A man’s place is in the army.

 

9. For men who have children, their duties might distract them from the responsibilities of being a parent.

 

8. Their physical build indicates that men are more suited to tasks such as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do other forms of work.

 

7. Man was created before woman. It is therefore obvious that man was a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment, rather than the crowning achievement of creation.

6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. This is easily demonstrated by their conduct at football games and watching basketball tournaments.

 

5. Some men are handsome; they will distract women worshipers.

 

4. To be an ordained pastor is to nurture the congregation. But this is not a traditional male role. Rather, throughout history, women have been considered to be not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more frequently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.

 

3. Men are overly prone to violence. No really manly man wants to settle disputes by any means other than by fighting about it. Thus, they would be poor role models, as well as being dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.

 

2. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep paths, repair the church roof, and maybe even lead the singing on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the Church.

 

1. In the New Testament account, the person who betrayed Jesus was a man. Thus, his lack of faith and ensuing punishment stands as a symbol of the subordinated position that all men should take.

 Read the full article at The Junia Project