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Sunday, June 28, 2015

My Obligatory Gay Marriage Post

So homosexuals can now legally marry in all 50 states.  It looks like unicorns that only eat skittles have puked all over social media.  There are more rainbows than a 10 year olds watercolor paintings.  Everyone has weighed in and sides are chosen and words exchanged.  So here is my view on the whole thing, like anyone really needs one more opinion.

In a democracy, with an open government that is ruled by the people, our society does and needs to reflect the people of the country.  Marriage is a rule of law in a government system and therefore needs to be equal.  If that means giving homosexuals the right to marry, then the government should afford that right to homosexuals.  The ability to destroy the institution of arraignment should be available to all people.  It shouldn't be just a heterosexual issue, let's all trash marriage.

Now you may think I am saying sarcastically, but I'm serious.  We have destroyed marriage long before the homosexuals decided they wanted a piece of the action.  At it's foundation, marriage was about a man and a woman, two incomplete people coming together making a more complete whole.  We once understood that men and women were different.  They have different strengths, different weaknesses.  Long before this idea of gender neutral, we understood that God made them male and female, instead of God making them men and surgery and hormone replacement making them female.  We got it, and we put men and women together to form the basic core unit of the family.  That combination, two becoming one flesh usually resulted in children.  Yes, some couldn't have children, but most could.  That unit was the family and it was the core of community.  The family unit then helped to build the community, they contributed and invested and sacrificed.  The community came together to build a society which built a nation.  We were much less focused on the good of the one, more on the good of the whole.

Then we decided one day that we are all about us.  We are about what is good for me.  What is going to make me happy.  We decided that if community doesn't make me happy, I find a new one, or just leave it all together.  If marriage doesn't make me happy, I just get a divorce and find someone else.  Now, I can choose if I like men or women or both, or I can switch.  It's all about what makes me happy.  I have kids because they make me happy, and if I begin to have a kid and that isn't what I want, I can abort it.  We just change our minds based on what we want.

The issue isn't choice or freedom or equal rights.  The point is that we are so selfish that we have begun to worship ourselves, and Romans 1 tells us that when we do that, God gives us over to our depravity.  We will then do whatever we think will make us happy.  News flash, homosexuals won't be happy with this, there will be something else later.  Maybe polygamy or the push for the removal of age limits so I can marry a 14 year old, or whatever.  The self will never be happy, there always must be something else.

Is homosexuality wrong?  Bible says it's just as wrong as any sex outside marriage, even if the homosexuals are married.  Why?  Telling two guys they are married doesn't mean God says they are married, it means the state says they are married.  In the Bible, God made them male, God made them female and for this reason and man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh.  God makes this happen, not the word marriage, not the state, not the Supreme Court.

It's wrong, but so is abortion, sex outside of marriage, most divorces are wrong, and a list of other things.  It doesn't change anything and it really doesn't matter.  Pride and anger and lust and greed are wrong and we are all full of those things.  I'm wrong every day and so are you.  That's not the problem.  The problem is that we are saying it's not wrong, it's ok and we are told not to say it's wrong.  The truth is we need Jesus to save us from our sin.  From our greed and lust and pride and murder and perversion.  Yes, I said perversion.  We all need Jesus, me and you and the two guys who got married today.

The ground is equal at the cross.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Martha, Martha. The Great Anxiety

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14:27

Do you ever struggle with fear? We are all afraid of something,  for example I am not a fan of birds. I don'think like things flying around my head,  it just creeps me out. There is a difference however,  between things that creep you out and genuine fear.  Many struggle with anxiety and fear on a daily basis. I have some anxiety issues,  but mine are very minor compared to many. We live in a world that is filled with much fear. I think the high pace of our society,  combined with constant pressure to succeed,  and the bombardment of information constantly has made us a stressed out people. Even today,  things at work didn't go exactly as planned,  and I may possibly face some consequences. That makes me nervous.

Sometimes it's simple things that cause us to worry. Every woman I have ever known worries about how the house looks when company is coming over. Remember Martha? She was stressed that she had so much to do and her sister Mary wasn't helping out.  Jesus told her "you are concerned with a great many things".  Not exactly what she wanted to hear I imagine,  but exactly what she needed. I know that often I am concerned with a great many things that don't have eternal significance. I worry about work and money and family and health and a long list of issues I have little to no control over. Do you relate?

The scripture is full of words to tell us not to worry,  to be brave and courageous.  2 Timothy 1:7 says we have not been given a spirit of fear.  In Matthew 6, Jesus asks if we can add a moment to our lives by worry,  which is probably the opposite of what we are actually doing. Jesus knew the stress would kill us,  and we are killing ourselves,  for what? I know I don'don't want to be afraid anymore.  I don't want to live in fear,  I don't want to suffer from anxiety.  I am going to continue to put my faith in the one who holds it all in His hands. I hope you find his peace today.

Friday, June 5, 2015

The Real American Idol

Sometimes I wonder if we have all gone crazy. Take a look at the world today,  and it seems we have our priorities backwards. Slavery and the sex trafficking of minors is at an all time high,  but we are worried about Brucelyn Jenner. Millions of babies are murdered every day in abortion clinics,  but we are more concerned with same gender marriage.  Yes,  these are all issues and each one represents the depravity and the lostness of our society, but as Christians we need to make it a priority to protect those who cannot protect themselves.   Children,  infants and the unborn should be our priority. Heaven should be filled with our cries and pleas against these atrocities.

These problems and many more plague us as a society.  We have abandoned the values that once kept marriages,  families,  communities and churches strong. Instead we have given our hearts to the American idol,  not the TV show,  but the idol of happiness.  It'S the American dream right,  the pursuit of happiness?  The desire to be happy has given to a feeling of happiness. We worship this feeling so much that we have become narcissistic without even noticing. Abortion,  divorce, same sex marriage,  transgender issues, even sexual abuse comes down to our attempts to try to fill our lives with things that make us happy. The problem is that we are not happy when we get what we want. We then turn our attention to the next thing that we think will make us happy,  and the depravity spiral downwards.

The woman or man believes if they are in a relationship,  they will be happy. Once in the relationship,  they feel if they get married,  they will be happy.  In the marriage,  they believe if their spouse will just do the thing they want them to do,  they will be happy. The spouse doesn'doesn't do the things they want them to do,  and even if they do,  they still aren't satisfied. In the course,  they find someone else who they think will make them happy. They get a divorce and remarry,  thinking then they will be happy.

Somehow we have begun to think that we have the right to be happy. That we deserve to be happy That somehow we have this great value and we are owed happiness. We have a sense of entitlement that has come from worshipping the American Dream. Our pursuit of happiness has given way to the worship of happiness.
So what is the solution? I think there are several issues that we need to come to terms with.  First is the issue that suffering is bad and we should never suffer. Do you know people who have never suffered? How would you describe those people? The people I know who have never suffered are usually selfish,  self focused and often whiney. They are spoiled and haven'the learned the first thing about livingliving in community with others. We sometime ask "why do bad things happen to good people"  but people who are good people are good because they were shaped and tempered through adversity. Next,  we need to realize how emotionally driven we are as a people. Out movies,  TV,  music,  books,  all these forms of entertainment are designed to impact our emotions. We let our emotions control our thinking,  our actions and our behaviors.

It can be phrased a thousand different ways, the bottom line is we need to mature. I am hesitant to use the phrase "grow up"  but in many ways that is what is comes down too. We no longer live in a society where community is the goal. We want what we want,  when and how we want it. We do it in marriage,  in family,  community and in the church. How many churches have fights over worship styles and music? How many churches fight over personalities,  worry about "stepping on toes" and split over non-essential doctrine? How many complain about the sermon length,  the music volume and how many pastors have lost their jobs to keep people happy?

This is an epidemic,  we have become self-self-absorbed and narcissistic to the point we will walk away from church,  seek a divorce,  redefine marriage to make it fit whatever we think will make us happy,  change our gender and murder our unborn children. None of these things seem to be making us happy as a nation,  maybe it's time to suck it up and care more about our neighbors,  seek to build real community and help one another again. Maybe then we will find something better than being happy.