August 07, 2006

"The Sin of Sodom"

Anyone who had even the slightest exposure to discussions about the morality of homosexuality has certainly heard the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is the sins committed in Sodom, referenced in Genesis 19, that are most often used by preachers and the religious right as the foundation for their attempt to show that God hates GLBT people. That mindset is why homosexual sex is sometimes referred to as "sodomizing" and there are still some anti-sodomy laws on the books in some parts of the United States that makes homosexual sex illegal.

This piece, written by Miguel De La Torre, is a clearly stated, concise explanation of the TRUE story of Sodom. Here are a couple of key quotes:

"Commenting on Sodom's sin, the prophet Ezekiel (16:49) wrote that Sodom's iniquity was the city's unwillingness, due to pride and haughtiness, to share their abundance with those who were poor and marginalized."

"Nowhere in the Bible where Sodom's wickedness is mentioned is homosexuality ever listed as being the cause for God's wrath. The crime of Sodom and Gomorrah, as elucidated by the scriptures themselves, is described as being a lack of justice done in the name of the "orphans and widows," the biblical euphemism for the disenfranchised. "

Using the latter description, there are a lot of Sodomites sitting on the Republican side of the isle in Congress and wagging their fingers as "evil homosexuals" behind pulpits in front of television cameras.

August 06, 2006

WHOSOEVER: Be Filled With God's Fullness

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in your inner being: that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:14-19 NKJV

Notice the progression of this passage of Scripture. First, the Holy Spirit must strengthen us in our inner being, SO THAT Christ can dwell in our hearts by faith, SO THAT we may be rooted and grounded in love, SO THAT we may be able to comprehend the breadth, length, depth and height of love, AND THEN to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, SO THAT we will be filled with the fullness of God.

We have been deceived into a very shallow knowledge and expression of love. God never intended it to be that way. God wants us to be able to comprehend all the dimensions of love so He can fill us up!

I challenge you to pray this scripture passage on a regular basis allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you, and dare to be filled with the fullness of God.

August 04, 2006

The Left Has Their Wing Nuts Too

A group of left-wing extremists have joined together to write a manafesto and set up a web site called beyondmarriage.org. As I understand their views after visiting their website, they want to extend marriage rights and legal recognitions far beyond same sex couples. Among the various and sundry relationships they want recognized are "households in which there is more than one conjugal partner."

Oh crap. This DOES NOT HELP LGBT people who want to have their committed relationships recognized as a legal marriage. It does not help at all because this is foddder for opponents to use in scaring their sheep to fall in line opposing equality. There is an excellent essay about the damage this will inflict on the GLBT community on the Independent Gay Forum.

The American Family Association has already seized upon this extremist rhetoric, portraying it as "Pro-Homosexual Marriage Proponents Go Public With Their Agenda." Of course, the clear implication is that all marriage equality advocates subscribe to these extreme views.

The AFA continues "In short, they want to totally redefine our society by eliminating the very concepts of marriage and family, and the battle to redefine traditional marriage is just the beginning. The proponents of homosexual "marriage" admit it and they have posted their manifesto online."

I suspect what the people at beyondmarriage.org will ultimately accomplish is helping to keep same-sex marriage beyond the reach of loving, committed same-sex couples. They are providing organizations like the AFA with effective ammunition for their campaign to discredit proponents of equality and scare people who won't put forth the effort to investigate the issue on its own merits.

August 03, 2006

Braves Chop Out "Focus On the Family"

Last week, the Atlanta Braves baseball team held one of three scheduled "Faith Day" events, which features post-game Christian evangelism. The Braves' organization dediced that the next two would be held without the participation of Focus on the Family.

The Braves' declined to state why they have disinvited Focus on the Family, but kudos to them for doing so. I'm happy to see they are not endorsing the hatred and bigotry these folks propigate, but according to the report from the Think Progress website, they are scheduled to participate in others. There is an e-mail address on their website where you can contact the organizers and discourage them from being associated with an group that promotes hate and exclusion, and I would encourage you to do so.

August 02, 2006

WHOSOEVER: Hold on or let go?

The cheerful little girl with bouncy curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh, please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"

Quickly, the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you to do and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday is only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

For the next week Jenny did more than her share of chores, and on her birthday her Grandma did give her a new dollar bill. At last she had enough money to buy the pearls.

Jenny loved her pearls. She wore them everywhere. They made her feel pretty and grownup. She even wore them to bed.

Every night when Jenny was ready for bed her daddy would read her a story. One night as he finished the story he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh, yes Daddy, you know that I love you"

"Then, give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me? She's my very favorite."

"That's okay, honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he kissed her goodnight on the cheek.

About a week later after story time Jenny's daddy asked again, "Jenny, do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know that I love you."

"Then, give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She's beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always he kissed her goodnight on the cheek.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed. As he came close he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear was rolling down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. When she opened it, there was her pearl necklace. With a quiver in her voice she finally said, " Here, Daddy, these are for you." With tears in his own eyes Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store pearls, and with the other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the real thing.

So it is with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap imitations in our lives so he can give us beautiful treasures. Isn't God good?

Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of? Are you holding onto harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits or activities that you have become so attached to that it seems impossible to let it go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in His other hand, but do believe this one thing........ God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.