marriage

Jennifer LeClaire: Judgment or Awakening? My Response to America’s Great Fall

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Judgment or Awakening? My Response to America’s Great Fall

Gay American flag
The Supreme Court voted to overturn a ban on gay marriage, causing a massive ripple effect. (Reuters)
 
 
Jennifer LeClaire is now sharing her reflections and revelations through Walking in the Spirit, a new podcast from Charisma. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.
Watchman on the Wall, by Jennifer LeClaire
When I learned the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage I went into what you might call spiritual shock. I almost felt like someone had died. Someone didn’t, but something did. True liberty and justice for all. I am grieving right now over the false freedom that was birthed out of a false equality movement. I am mourning because true freedom and true equality have been replaced by a counterfeit crusade that truly sets no one free. I am weeping because America has fallen and many in the church are being caught up in the Great Falling Away.
A line in the sand was long ago drawn. Our tyrannical government crossed that line on June 26, 2015. When five Supreme Court justices trampled state rights they knew all too well Christian rights would be trampled along with them. Call it a betrayal of our Constitution. Call it an anti-Christ agenda. Call it an assault on religious freedom. It’s all that and more.
See, crossing this line in the name of equality was a spiritual assault on every believer who calls on the name of Jesus. This isn’t about allowing gays to get married. No, not really. While I stand against gay marriage, it’s not the letter of the law that concerns me most. It the spirit behind the law that truly grieves me. This ruling will open the floodgates to a tsunami of perversion in the land. Pedophiles now want the same rights as same-sex couples. But that’s the topic of another column.
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Of course, we wrestle not against flesh and blood (see Eph. 6:12). Our nemesis here is essentially the spirit of the world (see 1 Cor. 2:12). The church opened the door to the spirit of the world long ago, as is evidenced by the adultery, child molestation, financial improprieties and other scandals running rampant in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, we’ve discovered it’s not so easy to shut the door. High-profile pastors and entire denominations are capitulating to the popular opinion on gay marriage. As Charisma Media founder Steve Strang so aptly wrote, it’s time to stand up and be counted.
I would say that persecution is coming except that it’s already here. Bakeries, bed and breakfasts, pizza shops and farmers are being sued for refusing to accommodate gay weddings. Public officials are being fired for standing for the truth and military chaplains are being told they cannot pray in the name of Jesus. As the saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
So what is my response to America’s great fall? Will we see a great judgment as so many are saying in this hour?
Read the full article here

Gay Sharia

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They keep insisting that recognising gay “marriage” won’t affect anybody else, but the facts are different.

Bill Muehlenberg writes:

More Islamic and Homosexual Sharia

In an earlier piece I noted the frightening similarities between the Islamic war on faith, family and freedom, and the homosexual war on faith, family and freedom. The attempt to push Islamic sharia law throughout the West is destroying democracy and liberty, but so too is the attempt to force everyone to embrace and promote the militant homosexual agenda.

Thus it is now not even worth bothering to differentiate between the two, since both are totalitarian movements designed to crush all opposition and silence all critics. So here I will simply offer more examples of Islamic sharia in action and homosexual sharia in action.

shariaLet me start with the ugly Big Brother activism of the homosexual lobby. They and their buddies in the courts and the media are doing a great job of smashing freedom and destroying genuine debate. Let me begin with a Christian bakery forced to close down because homosexual militants sued them in court for not making them a cake.

Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer sued Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery, forcing it to close its doors and won damages which will bankrupt the family. The Bowman-Cryers claimed they felt “mentally raped” in a list of 88 symptoms of emotional distress at being refused a cake. Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer were awarded $135,000 for damages.

A similar case occurred in Iowa where another Christian business was forced to close down by the hate-brigade:

The owners of a Christian family run business is being forced to shut their doors after being charged with discrimination against a homosexual couple. Betty Odgaard and her husband, Richard, have been the owners of Görtz Haus Gallery since 2002, when they purchased a 77-year-old stone church and transformed it into a bistro, flower shop, art gallery and wedding venue. On August 3, 2013, a homosexual couple from Des Moines asked to rent Görtz Haus for their wedding, and because of their Mennonite faith, the Odgaards told the couple they couldn’t host their wedding.
The couple immediately filed a discrimination complaint through the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and knowing their business was going to be in trouble, the Odgaards ended their wedding business in order to avoid the probability of another complaint and the associated fines and penalties. After leaving the wedding business, Görtz Haus struggled to survive, but the Odgaards felt they had no choice. The risks were simply too great.

And consider this appalling case of homofascism from Boston:

On March 30, a major Harvard-affiliated hospital in Boston, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), expelled a well-respected urologist from its medical staff because he voiced concerns about the unhealthy nature of homosexual behavior and objected to the hospital’s aggressive promotion of “gay pride” activities.
Dr. Paul Church has been a urologist on the BIDMC staff in Boston for nearly 30 years. He is a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty. He has done research on diagnosing prostate and bladder cancer, and has been a frequent volunteer for medical mission projects in Mexico and Africa. He has also spoken before educational and civic groups on the subject of high-risk sexual behaviors.

So telling the truth about the health risks of homosexuality will now get you fired. So much for tolerance, acceptance, inclusion and diversity. So much for medical and scientific truth. Now the only thing that matters is if you don’t hurt the feelings of a homosexual. Truth can be damned as the militants and their agenda get preferential treatment.

Read the rest here

Separating From State on Marriage

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As the secular state continues to march away from the Christian ideals of marriage, more and more people are pondering a post-secular marriage arrangement by which churches institute their own sacramental marriages independent from the state.

While I have been praying for the current campaign for same sex “marriage” to be destroyed, I have also thought about alternatives to marriage. In NSW, for example, there is a relationship register set up primarily for gay couples but open to all couples. This would provide a legal recognition of a marriage celebrated by a church but outside of the legal marriage system.

Roger Olsen comments on the U.S. situation:

Some Thoughts (and a Proposal) about the Religion and Marriage Issue

It seems to me the next step in separation of church and state is one religious organizations should take. They should be proactive. Take the proverbial ball into their own court and decide and announce, very publically, that only they will decide for themselves who is and who is not married. This is the natural parallel with religious organizations alone deciding who is and who is not ordained.

In “old Europe” governments decided who was ordained with all the civil privileges and responsibilities attached to that status. So-called “sects” (religious organizations not recognized by the state) could ordain whomever they wished but, in the eyes of government, those ordinations meant nothing. In “new America,” gradually, through a series of court decisions, all governments got out of the business of deciding valid ordinations. Today, so far as I know, no government entity in the U.S. has the authority to declare any religious organization’s ordinations valid or invalid.

The next natural step is for churches and other religious organizations to take away from government the right and authority to decide for them who is married and who is not. Already some Baptist churches in Texas, for example, are doing this. Some are calling the marriages they perform and recognize “covenant marriage” and relegating marriages they don’t recognize as valid, for them, to the category “civil marriages” or “civil unions.”

Read the full article here

Poly- Marriages- Bad For Children But Will Anybody Listen?

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From Lifesitenews.com

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Although I was very young, the images of my father cuddling with my mom, and then my step-brother’s mom still remain with me.Share on Facebook

MARRIAGEMon May 25, 2015 – 5:33 pm EST

Polyamory isn’t good for children: my story

Marriage , Polyamory

(thePublicDiscourse) – Recently, I had a discussion about marriage with someone who calls herself a “Darwinian gay feminist.” I asked her, “Is there any principled reason that marriage should be limited to only two people? There is now such a thing as a ‘throuple’—a three-way relationship. Should they have a right to marry?” She replied, “A union between three consenting adults? I see nothing wrong with it. The same goes for incest. It’s none of my business.”

I take it that she was serious in her response. Given that she believes marriage should be redefined to include same-sex couples, I suppose that makes sense. If marriage is just an emotional and loving union focused on satisfying the desires of adults, then including three or more members in this union is only logical. But her position seems to discount the fact that there might be more than just consenting adults involved. What about children who are raised by three- or four-person groups?

This isn’t just a hypothetical question. Last April, the New York Post published a story with this headline: “Married lesbian ‘throuple’ expecting first child.” The youngest member of the throuple and the biological mother, Kitten, said, “The three of us have always wanted kids and wanted to grow our family.” This might be their desire, but is this right for children? Is being raised by a throuple good for children?

I am particularly sensitive to this question, because my own childhood gave me a glimpse of what it is like to be raised in such a household.

Let me explain.

My Story

I grew up in a household living with not only my mother and father, but also my half-brother and his mother. My father had two kids: one with my mom (me) and one with another woman (my half-brother, who was three months older than I). When my mother was not there, I would see my father and my half-brother’s mother kiss and cuddle. When my half-brother’s mom wasn’t there, I would see my mother and my father kiss and cuddle. Although I was very young, these images still remain with me.

My mother and the mother of my half-brother were best friends. When they were in their late teenage years, they came from Guatemala together to the United States and developed a bond on their journey. My half-brother and I got along very well, but having the same father yet different moms in the household was confusing and troubling. It was confusing and troubling for me because I was never the center of my father’s attention, especially when he would mistreat my mom and when he would show affection to my half-brother’s mom. I hated seeing my father show affection to another woman who was not my mom.

When I was six years old, my father broke off ties with all of us and started a new family with a third woman. It was at this point that my half-brother’s mother and my mother went their separate ways. From that point onward, my mother raised me by herself.

Read the full article here

Marriage Hasn’t Changed: Ireland Has

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From Lifesitenews.com:

Keith Fournier writes:

Marriage hasn’t changed. Ireland has.

May 25, 2015 (Barbwire.com) — On Friday, May 22, 2015, the people of Ireland failed to heed the warning the Apostle Paul gave to the Christians of Rome.

They “exchanged the truth about God for a lie.” (Romans 1: 18-30) In this case, they exchanged the truth of natural marriage for the lie of false equality and fake tolerance.

Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told the Irish Times that the referendum amounts to a social revolution and the Catholic Church needs to do a reality check because “most of those people who voted yes are products of our Catholic schools for 12 years.”

That is why the Catholic Church in Ireland, and throughout the West, needs a new evangelization.

Many fellow Christians have asked me how this could happen since “Ireland is Catholic.” It happened because, for all practical purposes, this is not true. The Irish have what the Apostle Paul described —  a form of religion but they deny its power. (2 Tim. 3:5) There are no doubt faithful Christians in Ireland, but they are clearly in the minority.

Prime Minister Enda Kenney joined the crowd claiming “with today’s vote, we have disclosed who we are: a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people.” His Deputy Prime Minister Joan Burden called the vote a “magical moving moment.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Referendums cannot change reality. What has changed is Ireland. It has rejected its Christian roots. The veneer of Ireland as the home of Christian missionaries has been ripped away.

Read the full article here

Life Site News: The totalitarianism of same-sex ‘marriage’

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 In November of 1996 First Things hosted a symposium titled “The Judicial Usurpation of Politics” in which contributors discussed the threat to American democracy posed by the Supreme Court instated imposition of abortion on America. Nothing rivals the sheer volume of innocent human beings killed by abortion and yet First Things saw fit to focus not on the babies themselves or the mothers and fathers, but on the threat to democracy and the American experiment posed by the judicial over-reach that legalized abortion.

The legalization of same-sex “marriage” does not bring with it the innocent blood which cries to heaven, though it is perhaps the single most audacious social engineering initiative in American history. But the way in which it has been imposed in state after state, as courts have seen fit to ignore ballot initiatives, sets the stage for a United States Supreme Court ruling on par with Roe vs. Wade. The Supreme Court has announced it will rule on same-sex “marriage” in this sitting—exactly ten years after Canada legalized same-sex “marriage.” It is important for Americans to look at what has happened in Canada.

On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex “marriage.” On that day the sun rose as it always does, people went to work, daily Mass was celebrated in Catholic Churches and daily life continued to unfold as it normally does. In the days and months following there was no massive spike in the numbers of same-sex couples getting “married” (it had already been legal in 8 of 10 provinces since 2003), the speculated upon possibility of same-sex “marriage” tourism from the United States never really materialized and the Canadian flag was not changed from the maple leaf to the LGBT rainbow. But something very significant happened with the legalization of same-sex “marriage” in Canada and it wasn’t about the freedom of gay people to marry, and it wasn’t really about marriage.

July 20, 2005 marked a very significant step towards totalitarianism in Canada.

Free speech, the rights of parents, the right to preach and practise one’s religion and the worn and tattered fibers of normative decency were all deeply damaged. With the legalization of same-sex “marriage” what had been aberrant only a few years earlier became entrenched as a legal right, and what had been a normal and natural view of sexuality had been reduced to the retrograde thinking of hate crime dinosaurs.

Read the rest here

Two Men Marry- and the Gay Activists are Fuming

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So two blokes get married in New Zealand and the gay activists don’t like it because it undermines– wait for it– marriage. You see these guys are heterosexual. So, ummm, if marriage is supposed to be available to everyone regardless of their sexual preferences, what is their problem?

Bill Muhlenberg writes:


Heteros Biting Back

This is an absolute classic! I love it! It just makes my day. I could not have made any of this stuff up. Sweeeeet. So what’s it all about? Well, let me tell you: homosexual activists are fuming in New Zealand, because two males are about to get married.

So?? Well, the happy couple happen to be heterosexual. And for that, the homosexual brigade is spitting chips and going absolutely nutzo. Yes you heard me right. Just when you thought all this madness could not get any worse, now we have homosexualists upset about, and discriminating against, those with other lifestyle choices.

Bizarre as. My mind is still reeling! But hey, I am not making this up. Here is how the story goes:

Read the rest here

Let the Separation Come- Michael Brown

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Michael Brown says that the church will divide over gay “marriage” and that this is not a bad thing.

Let the Separation Come

Dr. Michael Brown
Dr. Michael Brown

As much I as I am constantly tackling controversial subjects, I am also working for the unity of the body, trying to major on the majors on my radio show (which reaches quite a diverse audience) and often interacting privately with those with whom I differ. Yet I recognize that sometimes division for the sake of truth can be healthy. Now is one of those times.

This past Wednesday, May 14, I gave a lecture at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., from noon to 1 p.m. It was also aired via live webcast, and the talk focused on issues related to my latest book, Can You Be Gay and Christian?

Shortly before the lecture, I was informed that at the exact same time and also live online, there would be a panel discussing Matthew Vines’ new book, God and the Gay Christian, with participation from Rachel Held Evans, Tony Jones and Jay Bakker, all of whom highly praised the book.

What excellent timing, and what an excellent opportunity to compare and contrast these two very different views. (For the record, my book is not a response to Matthew’s book, and the fact they came out at roughly the same time is providential rather than planned.)

One view says that while God deeply loves all people and offers them redemption in Jesus, under no circumstances would He ever bless or approve of two men (or two women) having sex together.

The other views says that under the right circumstances, God would bless and approve of two men (or two women) having sex. (For those who think that sex is not the issue, bear in mind that one of the major arguments made by same-sex “marriage” advocates like Matthew Vines is that it’s better for gays to be able to “marry” than to burn with lust, based on a serious misapplication of 1 Corinthians 7.)

Without a doubt, this issue will become a great dividing line in the church, and I, for one, welcome it, since it points to a much deeper divide in our approach to God, His Word and the people He wants to redeem. Ultimately, it will separate those who put God first and ask, “How can I fulfill His desires?” from those who put themselves first and ask, “How can He fulfill my desires?” (Although some will take extreme offense to this statement, if you analyze the major “gay Christian” arguments, they often boil down to this perspective.)

Read the full article here

Divorce Statistics Are Not True

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You’ve heard that 50% of all marriages end in divorce and that the situation is the same in church as outside, but it’s not the whole story. In fact the reality is much better. This article is based on US data but Australian trends tend to be similar to the US.

Author Debunks Myths About Divorce Rates, Including of Churchgoers

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  • Shaunti Feldhahn
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BY ALEX MURASHKO, CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
May 16, 2014|9:05 am

Many of the most demoralizing beliefs about marriage, especially when it comes to discouraging statistics commonly passed around, are just not true, says social researcher and best-selling author Shaunti Feldhahn.

“A subconscious sense of futility about marriage is everywhere, as everything we hear says marriage is ‘in trouble,'” states Feldhahn. “And while some of the bad news is accurate (for example, 41% of children are born out of wedlock), many of the most demoralizing beliefs just aren’t true. For example, the notion that half of all marriages end in divorce or that the divorce rate is the same in the church… neither are anywhere close to true.”

 

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