Patricia Ireland just said that she grew up as a Christian in Indiana and asked that (paraphrase) "if there was a real problem with lesbians and gays, why didn't Jesus say anything about it?"
Nice -- here is a poignant reply to Ireland. BTW, laughing out loud over your "keywords"...
Also, whenever I read the Biblical account of Sodom and how the sodomites there tried to have sex with angels, I recall my horror in 1992 when I saw the LA preview of Tony Kushner's ANGELS OVER AMERICA -- and was so shocked by the spirit of it that seemed to "mock heavenly beings" on par with the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah that I literally could NOT write the review of the play for the newspaper that sent me to it. Seemed his recent HBO movie of same was vastly rewritten. Here's a very good article on what the sin of Sodom was and is about.
The Kingdom Of Sodom by Mark Watson
The world, not just America, is on its way of repeating in the sin of Sodom. Our planet is now set to spit in the face of God and bring about many evils strongly condemned in the Bible. The world as a whole is making their rejection of God, his Christ and his word a fundamental tenet of their emerging Global religion. This religion is not a religion of a singular worship. It is the religion of Anti-Christianity. It is the religion that has as its fundamental tenets, the rejection of God’s morality in favor of a humanist and Masonic morality.
To say it bluntly, it is the religion of blasphemy. It is a morality that accepts everything and everyone no matter what they do. Men and women who serve God will find it very difficult to act according to God’s law and will be forced to accept the most vile and morally repugnant and unrepentant people. When God finally does judge their acts, they will do as the tenet of their religion teaches them. They will blaspheme God.
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
(Rev 16:11)
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
(Rev 16:21)
Have you noticed that the spirit of blasphemy is everywhere? Look at the latest movie by Jim Carey ‘Bruce Almighty’. The previews are enough to make any true Christian sick to their stomach. It is pure blasphemy dressed up as a Hollywood comedy. Everywhere you turn especially in the entertainment world blasphemy against God and his Christ is rampant. Those who attempt to warn the world and great sinners about God’s standards are called judgmental.
And they said, Stand back. And they said [again], This one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot, and came near to break the door.
(Gen 19:9)
Lot was sick of the evils of Sodom and certainly reproved their works often.
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned [them] with an overthrow, making [them] an example unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed [his] righteous soul from day to day with [their] unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
(2Pe 2:6-9)
Serving God will be increasingly difficult in the days ahead, as it was difficult for Lot. This will be true in all aspects of life; as to whom raises and teaches your children to who you are allowed to hire at your business. It will be and is becoming illegal to ‘discriminate’ based on God’s set of moral principles. The people of God will be forced to accept gays and child molesters as Teachers, Pastors and Deacons because it will be illegal to ‘discriminate’ based on sexual preference. The ‘in your face’ Gay community will force themselves on the Corporate Churches. Indeed, they have already accomplished much of this.
Many will not believe that Pedophilia (child-molestation) is on the agenda for approval in the emerging global order as being an accepted practice.
The American Psychiatric Association is now looking at this matter as I write, an article on this can be found here.
http://www.insightmag.com/news/440178.html
The world is turning to every manner of sexual perversion and debauchery and calling it ‘enlightenment’ and ‘tolerance’. The Sin of Sodom is a horrible slap in God’s face and rest assured that God will respond in a terrible way that will leave the people of the earth reeling… at least those that are left alive. God has left us a witness as to how he deals with this sort of perversion coupled with blasphemous insolence. He destroys it in fire.
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing [them] rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways.
And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them?
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as [is] good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back.
And they said [again], This one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that [were] at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring [them] out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city [is] near to flee unto, and it [is] a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, ([is] it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.
Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. (Gen 19:1-25)
There are many things to consider in this passage of scripture. First that God sent his angels to warn Lot of the coming cataclysm.
The people of Sodom were violent and perverted.
They men were not even interested in sexual relations with women.
God Supernaturally protected the saints
God waited until the saints were out of the danger area before venting his fury
No one was left when God was finished.
Lot and his family were spared because they saw the wickedness of the men of Sodom and rebuked it correctly calling their works wicked. Let us make an important distinction here we are not talking about or condemning those men and women who God has called out of a life of homosexuality that may still struggle against what they know to be contrary to God’s law. No. God’s fury was vented against those who impudently practiced this vile and repugnant sin and were so depraved that they wanted to gang rape the very messengers of the living God.
This is depravity to the utmost and shows how forbearing and patient God is with sinners. Things had to get so bad that the God’s people could not go about the city without getting gang raped by a bunch of perverts before he moved in a mighty fashion. But when he moved, men women and children were burned alive. God’s patience is meant to lead men into repentance; instead it led the men of Sodom greater and greater insolence against the creator of life and brought destruction upon them and their children
A Lack of Hospitality?
Inhospitality is often said to have been the real sin of Sodom. What is interesting about this is the fact that inhospitality was a serious affront to ancient customs of the time. Hospitality in the ancient world was a sacred custom and for these men to violate it so perniciously is quite significant. This is something that many gay ministers and defenders of the so called ‘gay lifestyle’ point out and say that this was the real sin of Sodom.
I point out that it was a sin of Sodom, but it was the attempt at homosexual gang rape against God’s anointed and the sins of the city, as demonstrated in the passage, that brought the fury of God upon Sodom.
This sin was once again repeated in the book of Judges, chapter 19, verse 22. In this passage, the Children of Israel went against their brother Benjamin an ultimately destroyed him, burning Gibeah and other Benjamin-ite cities to the ground. However, Israel had great trouble in doing so and suffered some defeats.[1] Remember, the LORD himself came down and had to see about the sin of Sodom, (Genesis Chapter 18:16ff). These facts lead one to conclude that there is a very powerful spiritual force behind the sin of sodomy and, I believe, behind today’s homosexual or ‘gay’ movement. It is contrary to God’s plan for man to procreate. (Gen 1:28, Gen 9:1).
The devil has always had a hard time with man's existence and wants to destroy him and if he cannot do it, then he will get man to become so depraved and evil that he will get God to do it for him. Man, unfortunately, is all too willing to go along and although the devil will succeed in destroying a great deal of mankind, God has his remnant that will be saved, that is, those who belong to Christ.
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [them], and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. (Joh 17:6-9)
The world will fall deeper and deeper into debauchery and perversion while a very small remnant will be compassed about by an increasingly wicked world, bent on satisfying their own perverted lusts at the expense of others (rape, child molestation, bestiality and murder). Great evils are indicated (by the word of God) for the earth as we close out this wicked age.
Canada, UK and of course America are legitimizing perversions in the name of ‘civil rights’, and ‘tolerance’. The days are truly evil, where evil is called good and good is called evil. The entire earth seems bent upon a path of corrupting themselves not unlike the antediluvian (pre-flood) world.
Ancient texts speak of great corruption among all flesh, this is confirmed in Genesis.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
(Gen 6:11-12)
The text clearly states that flesh had corrupted[2] itself. Today, we see the same thing only we are using science to do it with. Scientists are now working on making it possible for a male to have a child. Now what I find interesting is that we murder millions of infants in America via abortion, ostensibly to assist with an 'overpopulation' problem, yet scientists are spending millions of dollars so that a man can have a baby! Is this not the height of insanity, dressed up in Doctorate degrees and government contracts?
Or is there something deeper going on here? I believe here is something much deeper and sinister transpiring, with spiritual undertones from the demonic spiritual kingdom. These things are directed as an organized assault on the order of nature that God made. In short, Satan, the prince of this world is behind these attempts to corrupt all flesh before God and move mankind in a way contrary to nature.
Here is an article on Womb Transplants
http://www.sciscoop.com/story/2003/7/2/71457/90122
God is more than willing to forgive the sinner, no matter how steeped in sin he or she is. If there is true repentance, there is true forgiveness. God does not hate gay people. On the contrary, he loves them. Christ came to save sinners, not destroy them. But those who do not want to be saved won’t be.
They will get exactly what is coming to them.
By Mark S. Watson
[1] The reason that they had so much trouble is not clear but the passage does give some clues.
The children of Israel needed to fast and pray in order to get the spiritual stronghold of Sodom removed from among them. The passage shows that they prayed and offered sacrifice and were not successful against Benjamin even though God told them to go up against Benjamin. It was only after they prayed and fasted and inquired of the Ark of the Covenant did they finally have success. “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Mat 17:21)
[2] H7843 ???? shâchath shaw-khath'
A primitive root; to decay, that is, (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively): - batter, cast off, corrupt (-er, thing), destroy (-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, X utterly, waste (-r).
I've always been dissapointed by the apparent lack of concern Jesus expressed towards the spotted owl. Did he like them with Garlic or parsely? Inquirers want to know.