Might the Evangelical Church be on the Verge of a Gay Awakening?

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by Mike Ratliff

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:18-27 ESV)

This ministry exists solely by the grace of God. I do not depend on donations or advertisers to keep things going. I work for a living and this site is maintained on WordPress.com so it is free. I spend time and prayer and effort in it of course, but I do not depend upon the financial support of others to keep things going. However, I have friends who minister full time and those who depend upon advertisers to keep their radio shows on the air, et cetera always have that threat of having that money pulled away as pressure comes to bear for various reasons. I heard from a friend today who lost two advertisers who told him they had received numerous complaints about his stance on homosexuality in the church and so they were pulling their advertising dollars from his ministry. Of course, those very same people who were calling in the complaints also hacked into his web site and did major damage to it. All of this was done by certain people who claim to be Christians that insist on the unconditional love of Jesus for all. I guess that love only goes to those who support their agenda of gay affirmation in the visible church.

Carefully read this disgusting piece from The Huffington Post. As we have been studying about for months my brethren, just calling oneself a Christian does not make you one. As we saw in yesterday’s post, Not All of You Are Clean, Judas Iscariot looked just like the rest of our Lord’s disciples and our Lord even washed his feet, but that did not change the fact that he was an imposter and betrayed our Lord. If you read that piece from The Huffington Post and still believe that Jay Bakker is not a heretic then please tell me why not.

I actually look at this as the opening explosion in a Tsunami of open confessions from the supposed Evangelical community of Gay Affirmations as well as those who profess to be both Christian and Homosexual. Of course, God’s Word knows nothing of this. These are mutually exclusive.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV)

Notice that it is the unrepentant who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Within those to whom Paul was writing that letter were former homosexuals. By God’s grace, forgiveness and healing is available.

In any case, look for this sort of thing to increase in both frequency and volume in the apostate visible church. Let us continue to proclaim the truth by the grace of God, giving the Gospel to all who will hear.

Soli Deo Gloria!

28 thoughts on “Might the Evangelical Church be on the Verge of a Gay Awakening?”

  1. Yes, unfortunately, the jugment of God will continue to fall on the supposed “evangelical” churches because they do not love the truth, so they will be sent a strong delusion to believe the lies of the devil (2 Thess. 2:10-12).

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  3. Mike, I appreciate your stand on this matter. Too many are silent when they need to speak. If something is an abomination to God then it should be an abomination to those who belong to Him. It is abundantly clear in God’s Word that homosexuality is an abomination to Him. To those who would give gays a pass and say that they are compatable with real Christianity and that God accepts them as they are I would suggest that you examine yourself to see if YOU are in the faith. The salvation purchased and given by Jesus Christ delivers the believer from the power of sin, it does not condone it or pass over it as if it is too much for God to deliver us from our sins. A practicing homosexual cannot be a redeemed/saved individual. The same is true for a practicing liar, adulterer, thief or any one else named in the various lists found in Scripture. Jesus Christ delivers us from the power of sin. Col. 1:13 and many others.

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  4. So true Mike…its coming, but obviously God is allowing it. It sure will be easy for the angels to bundle the tares.

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  5. Mike,
    I read the piece on HuffPo and most of the comments. In order for liberals to win the argument they must redefine the dictionary’s original definition of words. Years ago Walter Martin warned of this happening. And so it has. Once they’ve accomplished this, they win we lose….at least that’s what they think. Liberals also had to reduce Jesus to a 60s flower child. “Love is all we really need” is the liberal mantra. It is so unloving of ‘fundies’ to mention that God hates sin, as if it were actually true. Sin and punishment is so yesterday. Dare to mention God’s judgment, liberals come completely undone.

    I’m wondering, do you know of any evangelical scholars who have challenged liberal scholars to an open debate on the subject of the Bible and sodomy? There are many debates on creation vs evolution, why not openly debate the Bible vs sodomy? Fundies would win, hands down.
    Blessings,
    Marsha

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  10. That’s exactly what they are attempting to do Marsha. I know of no takers on an open debate on this subject. I agree with you though. With a formal debate with solid rules in which words mean what they mean, well, as you said, the fundies would win, hands down.

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  14. Marsha,

    “I’m wondering, do you know of any evangelical scholars who have challenged liberal scholars to an open debate on the subject of the Bible and sodomy?”

    I’ve been writing about this for 3 years now. In that Martin-Spong program Spong admits the Bible condemns homosexuality.

    All the Emerging Church folk are doing is recycling old debunked arguments originally used by liberal theology. There’s been no new scholarship of any repute showing Biblical texts have been mistranslated.

    What’s going to happen is people will find out that evangelicalism is now defenseless against the gay agenda because it rejected sola Scriptura long ago.

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  15. I think we are only seeing a few clouds right now compared to the storm that is to come. False teachers inside the visible church combined with social and legislative pressure could very easily make it a criminal offense to preach the true Gospel. We should all fall to our knees and beg for the strength to endure for His name.

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  16. Pingback: Might the Evangelical Church be on the Verge of a Gay Awakening? « Sola Dei Gloria

  18. It is interesting to see that now throughout this country, Christians are beginning to realize the gravity of the change that is effectively taking place within the popular culture, church denominations, and so on, while this has more or less been the norm for a while now in the city where I live in the Pacific NW…

    Most churches around the city center here will have some kind of rainbow emblem displayed on their church’s sign, signifying their “progressive” stance on the issue…

    I do think you are completely correct Mike in that in the very near future, we are likely to see a “tipping point” take place, where embracing homosexuality will no longer this controversial, cutting-edge move, but instead it will be those of us who refuse to disobey God in favor of the culture of the day who will be odd ones out. I pray that all of those who cling to what Christ did for us on the cross will learn to stand firm, and ignore being accused of things like “hate speech”…

    And speaking of “debates”… I know that when I have gotten into discussions with people about this topic, and they start getting offended and everything, I will usually ask them if they realize that God is just as serious about things like adultery, pornography, lust, and so on… I ask if they think I am guilty of “discrimination” because I believe the Bible also says it is sinful to think lustfully about anyone… I then have an opportunity to share something about how God has forgiven me for being guilty of lust myself, and how His Spirit enabled me to overcome what felt like “natural” urges and inclinations…

    Most people seem to get a little caught off guard by this, and whatever their reaction may be, they usually don’t feel able to slap the “hate-monger” label on you quite as easily…

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  19. Marsha,

    In response to your question:
    “I’m wondering, do you know of any evangelical scholars who have challenged liberal scholars to an open debate on the subject of the Bible and sodomy? There are many debates on creation vs evolution, why not openly debate the Bible vs sodomy? Fundies would win, hands down.”

    Dr. Michael Brown has done some wonderful debates dealing with this issue, one certainly worth watching is his debate with Harry Knox of The Human Rights Campaign (http://coalitionofconscience.askdrbrown.org/resources/debate.html). He also gave a rather lengthy seminar dealing with Homosexuality in the Church and Society and is one of the more courageous voices confronting this moral insanity. You can find more resources at his website: http://askdrbrown.org/home.

    Daniel

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  21. Amen I agree, there is a Bishop that professed to be a man of God , married twice,4 children, and came out of the closet that he was gay, and still is over a church, you would be amazed at the people that support him, and tell him thank you for coming having the courage to come clean, Nothing clean about it, Come out of them , for you salvation depends on it… Live holy!

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  23. Perhaps it is not so much a beginning of a wave, but the continuation of a Genesis 3 world. Much as we see the water we throw the leaf into as one moment, in reality it is a continuous flow of water and time, so the happenings are a small piece in a bigger tapestry weaved long before we became into history.
    The so called “gay” issue is just another in a string of fads and detachments from biblical truth. Those who obviously write their own version of the bible or Jesus, or who profess to be this and that at the same time only expose themselves as what they are; either unbelievers, or apostates.
    Much as the martyrdom of early church fathers, we may too someday be called to affirm or deny our Lord, and choose our fate. And I submit that openly affirming what the bible prohibits is a rejection of our savior, no less than worshiping Caesar to save our skin.
    Whom this day will we serve? Bakker has spoken, and so must we, daily.

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  24. In our search for a Gospel-centered church last year, we attended a local Community Bible church that initially seemed to be ‘the right fit’. However, it soon became apparent that something was wrong. That ‘something’ was repentance. I had been reading several books about repentance including John MacArthur’s, “The Gospel According To Jesus” and “Truth War”. After several discussions with the Pastors, Elders & Teachers, I discovered that what they believed & taught was something that seemed to contradict scripture; That one need not repent in order to be saved.

    They considered repentance to be a ‘work’; that one need not stop (or turn) from their sin; just simply ‘believe’. We went round & round on this issue for quite awhile before we finally left and found a church where things like the Gospel and repentance were taught according to scripture.

    This is just one example of perhaps the root of the problem within so many church today. A lack of sound, doctrinal teaching on sin and repentance. If we sugar-coat the Gospel, people will be led to believe that they can continue to live in sin and still call themselves Christian. Of course, this does not imply that we instantly stop sinning when we are born again but rather, that we submit to Jesus as Lord of our life and respond in repentance. Regardless of the sin (even homosexuality), God receives all who come to Him w/a humble, contrite, repentant heart, recognizing their sin and need to turn from it. If we teach anything else, we’re teaching ‘another Gospel’.

    I wonder how these ‘easy-believism’ churches would respond to a person living in adultery who came to their church, walked the aisle, asked Jesus into their heart and yet, continued to live in adultery. By continuing in our sin, we are saying that we see nothing wrong with it. There is a difference between living in sin and stumbling into it. That difference is how we respond when it happens.

    Thanks for this and all the other terrific posts Mike!

    ~ktf~
    John

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  25. Ken
    You do an amazing job of defending the faith and dealing with some of the ‘untouchable’ issues. I soooo appreciate what you do for the cause of Christ!

    Daniel
    Thank you for the links! Looking forward to listeing.

    What I hope we’ll see—soon– are theologians such as Al Mohler and John MacArthur doing an open debate with popular liberal theologians. Conservative theologians write and talk about homosexuality. But that’s not enough. We need open debates. And we’ll win the argument! Part of how we’ll win is by bringing in the health/psychological issues inherent in the ‘gay’ lifestyle that many people are unaware of such as the FACT that 1 in 5 homosexuals is infected with HIV/AIDS.

    Grace & peace,
    Marsha

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  27. Ken
    In my humble opinion others had better ‘man-up’ and take the hit. I’m not saying Mohler and MacArthur should challenge the left to an open debate on the Bible vs sodomy. There are other theologians/apologist who would do a stellar job of trashing the Left’s arguments. Greg Koukl for example. He has no qualms about tackling ‘gay’ issues. Consider these conservative heavy hitters: Peter Jones, Derek Thomas, Michael Horton, Carl Truman, Stephen Nichols, Riddlebarger, Friel, Osteen (a little levity). It’s time for cocnservatives to get our noses bloody.

    Marsha

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