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There is a major problem with pornography in Evangelical churches. But me, the celibate lesbian, I'm the one going to hell. Right.
"RIGHT" Nope, you are already in hell with the rest of the world's mortals There are a fair number of celibate married people also (not by mutual choice), I've read that some people prefer porn to having sex with their partners.,,,but that is another topic.
Genesis 3 King James Version (KJV)
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
This part gets overlooked ALOT. "ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" And Eve's response of seeing the tree, desiring it's fruit for taste and the DESIRE TO MAKE ONE WISE.
AKA Wise meaning shall be AS GODS. Eve wanted to be her OWN GOD. She rejected her Father who provided EVERYTHING for her.
Scripture repeatedly testifies to itself to worship ONE GOD and ONE GOD only.
The GOD of the Bible.
Sinning occurs because one of our first parents, Eve, wanted to be a GOD. This cannot be said enough
The serpent beguiled this desire into her
Part of the curse is she went from being a "helpmeet", Adams equal
Now ...."to be ruled over" Gen 3:16
Sin is the result of wanting to BE GOD
If you became dehydrated and weak, would it be better to enact the solution or just treat the symptoms? Especially when if you treat the symptoms, yet know the outcome is death no matter what, why bother?
As long as our Creator has decided and listed homosexuality as a sin, or anything else is sin, then not seeing that AS THE SIN IT IS= Us trying to be our own GOD. Us pleading in ways to blame GOD and his people for seeing sin as he sees it. "In Christ" is repeated many times in the bible. It's what happens when we are saved. We are "One" with our Lord, just as we become ONE with our Spouse. We are of like mind. Being IN CHRIST means our sin has no effect on our eternity like it does others who are more focused ON THE SIN than loving the sinner. Telling them the truth. SIN causes many problems, suicide is just one problem. Don't sympathize with those who are sick who need a Doctor, BECOME a righteous person IMMUNED to these things who doesn't need a DOCTOR. Be their DOCTOR by helping to save their SOUL aka Heal them. Show them how sin emerged. Show them this is the truth. Show them there is NO OTHER WAY but LORD Jesus Christ. Insist via a loving whey they choose life, not death. They choose to NOT reject their Father but instead, encourage reconcilliation. No matter how angry and selfish this person is wanting to be THEIR OWN GOD. Do not focus or discuss the sin, just get them to take that necessary step to STOP desiring to be their own GOD thus reject the real GOD, rejecting their eternal Father and choosing to die.
Do just as Jesus has done for you. Help people to choose life by choosing the one true God, not death by choosing themselves as GOD.
SumTingy, of your above list of 'sins' isn't adultery accepted by most mainstream churches? I'm referring to the thousands of divorced and remarried couples who sit comfortably in the pews of most churches every week. You DID know that marriage to another while a former spouse is living is tantamount to scriptural adultery, did you not? How many times have you heard this preached from the pulpit intended to impact on those church-attending 'offenders' in their second or third marriage in order to make them squirm? Answer: Never! Why not? The 'sin' involved here is the breaking of a 'sacred' vow, usually made in the presence of several witnesses, to commit to a lifelong sexual relationship to one specific person. When that vow is broken and sexual relations begin with another person, adultery occurs. Even Jesus spoke against adultery while not even ONCE speaking against homosexuality!
That said, WHAT, precisely, makes homosexuality a 'sin'? The 'sin' of adultery is explained above. Rape is the taking of another sexually by force. Pornography ...does the Bible even address pornography? As for incest, wasn't this pretty much 'the norm' in the early days of human existence? But, what is the 'wrong' with two adults of the same gender sharing intimacy with one another?
Speak, SumTingy ...speak!
Homosexuality (per se) is not addressed in the Bible at all. I know you believe that it is but it really isn't! Moreover, all references to same gender sex in the Bible (only in, at MOST, a half-dozen places in the ENTIRE Bible) are affiliated with male temple prostitutes in ritualistic religious services dedicated to idols. The term 'homosexuality' did not exist in Bibles prior to 1946. The later authors of these Bibles apparently took liberties to add their own slant to ambiguous Hebrew and Greek terms that in all likelihood did not mean the definitions that were given to them.
In all likelihood Jesus would have been pointing out the hypocrisy of those who point the finger at others (ring any bells?) while being guilty of the same 'sins' ...if only in thought. Jesus was one pretty sharp guy and that's why I like Him!
In America, you not only have WHITE PRIVILEGE, but also HETEROSEXUAL PRIVILEGE. That's how I see it. This is not surprising in a patriarchal colonial society.
Adultry, pornography, rape, incest, and host of other sinful sexual behavior is not tolerated in the Church. If a member continually acting on one of these sins, a Bible believing body will tell them that they must stop and repent. If they continue, they will be asked to leave the church as Paul recommends. The sin(s) you refer to has no repentance and is actually glorified.
Most, if not all of us, have committed adultry. Jesus says if that anyone who looks at someone with lust has committed adultry in his heart. Most of us will struggle with sexual sin until the grave. But that does not mean we give in to it. We all must fight it every day until the end.
Do you really think churches are keeping up with people's lives ... especially those MEGA churches - you think they are turning people out of church for SIN? Most churches would do anything they can to increase the size of the congregation because it increases the amount of money coming in. A person's sin problem is a personal problem between him and God. I don't know anyone who can be motivated from OUTSIDE forces to turn away from sin. This must come from within the heart of a person, not from being shamed by other sinners.
"RIGHT" Nope, you are already in hell with the rest of the world's mortals There are a fair number of celibate married people also (not by mutual choice), I've read that some people prefer porn to having sex with their partners.,,,but that is another topic.
An interesting note: While at a writers' retreat a couple of years ago, one of the participants was an IT guy who worked for NYPD (and was writing a crime novel, naturally).
He said that 95% of what is on the Internet is pornography. The other 5% is EVERYTHING ELSE. Yes, think about those pages and pages that come up when you do a Google search, the endless amount of non-porn websites you've seen...that is the 5%.
Well then you need to take that up with GOD, as it's GOD'S laws.
So claim some. Others of us see that as the words of men who were naturally influenced by their time and culture and distastes for sexual proclivities that they don't share.
Many gay Christians HAVE taken it up with God in ways beyond the written words of men and received the knowledge that they are acceptable and loved as the people they were created to be, and many of us who care for them understand that God is bigger than a book.
"RIGHT" Nope, you are already in hell with the rest of the world's mortals There are a fair number of celibate married people also (not by mutual choice), I've read that some people prefer porn to having sex with their partners.,,,but that is another topic.
Well that would explain why it's been so freakin' hot lately!
Do you really think churches are keeping up with people's lives ... especially those MEGA churches - you think they are turning people out of church for SIN? Most churches would do anything they can to increase the size of the congregation because it increases the amount of money coming in. A person's sin problem is a personal problem between him and God. I don't know anyone who can be motivated from OUTSIDE forces to turn away from sin. This must come from within the heart of a person, not from being shamed by other sinners.
Why then do I not read or hear of truthful appraisal of the suppression of gay rights among Muslims?
Instead Christians are meant to bear the brunt of gay hatred - as though Christians were exhibiting criminal behavior for insisting upon their own right to live our lives and practice our religion as we see fit? If wanting to be allowed to practice my faith according to the Bible is hate language, then every man in history who ever spoke truth and decency can be silenced in this new era of licentiousness.
Christian governments have not established policy of brutalizing gays as Muslims lands have done. Why do gays conveniently forget this major issue of human rights when they attack Christians? Gays are not beaten as a matter of government policy in Christian lands. Neither are they brought to trial, imprisoned and in some cases subjected to public execution.
Yet gays seldom if ever mention these matters. Why?
....
You are just not paying attention. Of course the emphasis and effort are going primarily toward those Christian institutions that promote this particular bigotry in a traditionally Christian country in which Muslin perceptions have almost no influence on public policy, but the criticism is there where warranted
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There are a fair number of celibate married people also (not by mutual choice), I've read that some people prefer porn to having sex with their partners.,,,but that is another topic.
