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Congratulations to Carrie Prejean for her willingness to stick to her guns with her opposition to same-sex marriage. Miss California placed second in this years Miss America pageant. I did not watch the pageant but read a news report that Miss Prejean was asked basically, whether or not the rest of the country should follow Vermont’s example of legalizing same-sex marriage. Here is what she said:  I think it’s great we live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised. Thank you very much.

You can watch the video here: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wdaf-miss-california-gay-marriage-042009,0,6323778.story
The question was asked by an openly homosexual man named Perez Hilton, who writes a popular blog.  Although she did not really state why she was opposed to the legalization of same-sex marriage, she did state that in her home, she was raised to believe that marriage is to be between a man and a woman. That is her opinion and she stould up for that opinion. However, she feels that she lost the competition because of her response.

However you regard her answer, what is suprising to me (although it really should not be suprising) is the amount of hatred and intolerance that was directed toward young Miss Prejean. For example, Perez Hilton ran a video of himself immediately after the pageant. He called her a dumb ****. He also stated that if she had won, he would have “run up on stage and ripped the tiara off her head.”

These are very aggressive and rude comments by someone we would expect to have decency and respect. Judges, by their very title, are to be fair to all. But because the man is a homosexual, he had to resort to name-calling and aggressive gestures. The Apostle Paul describes homosexuality in various places in the New Testament. He doesnt use the typical Greek word for homosexual in Romans 1:27, arsenokoites, but describes men and women burning in their lust for each other. But as Romans 1 progresses, the behavior gets worse. As individuals who do not see fit to recognize God the Creator and Owner, their behavior spirals downward. They become more and more animal-like. Perez Hilton is no exception to the case. There seems to be a tendency within the homosexual community to resort to violence or rude name-calling if provoked or disagreed with. This is so because their consciences have been hardened since they do not recognize God as the Ruler and Creator. All sin leads to an increasing hostility towards God and neighbor. When the conscience becomes hardened through unrepentant sin, the individual becomes increasingly hostile towards others. If you do not believe me, just cross a godless person and see what happens. Paul describes this process clearly in Romans 1.

What the Christian should learn from this is basically two things: the world hates you just as it hated Jesus (John 15:18-19 and 1 John 3:13). And two, sin is evil. Unrepentant sin hardens the heart or conscience. As the conscience is hardened or seared, the individual gets sucked into godlessness more and more. Therefore, we must be all the more diligent to guard our hearts against indwelling sin. Homosexuality is not bringing God’s curse on America. Homosexuality IS God’s curse on America. The rise and progress of the homosexual agenda is God’s curse in that the church will experience great persecution in the near future. Church’s that desire to remain faithful to the Lord will be penalized. Our only hope is that God will bring about a revival and restore the purity of the Church in America. As long as the church in America continues to follow the world, we should only expect more of God’s judgment.

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Newsweek has published a major discovery from a survey by the American Religious Identification Survey which indicated in its research that the “number of  Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent” (http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583?GT1=43002). Another interesting note is that historically, the Pacific Northwest has been the most unaffiliated with any religious denomination but that statistic now belongs to the Northeast. The significance of that statistic should not be overlooked. Our nation was birthed out of the Northeastern section of the land. True, there were other significant cities in other parts of the country, but it seems that the Northeast has had the privilege of setting the agenda for our nation. Christianity has played a very significant role in the Northeastern states in particular. The earliest Baptist Association, the Philadelphia Baptist Association, was foundational in the development and spread of Baptist identity throughout the land. New York and Boston continue to be leaders in the financial world. Let’s just say that the Northeastern US has been like the grandparents to the rest of the country as we know it. But with the decline of any religious identity of the people of the Northeast comes the first wave in what is bound to happen to the future of our nation. What has been happening in Europe for many years is now beginning to settle here. That is “secularization” or a “Post-Christian America.” Fewer and fewer Americans are claiming any affilation to historic Christianity.

The change from a Christian majority to minority has obvious disadvantages. For one, we will see a devaluation of human life. Another real possibility is the removal of religious freedoms that we have enjoyed over the course of our history. Churches will continue to decline and people will become less interested in propositional truths that the Bible affirms.

However, not all is bad news. With the fall of American Christianity will come, I am certain, a more pure church. This has been proven historically. As persecution increases, Christians become more like Christ and less like the world. If it becomes “unpopular” to be a member of a church, then only people who are genuinely followers of Christ will seek membership into the local churches. In other words, there will be less hypocrisy within the church because the church will consist of a higher percentage of true believers. Christianity will continue to be mocked and so no one will want to become a Christian unless they seriously love the Lord Christ.

Another point of good news is the possibility of a revival. If you examine the history of revivals, you will see a pattern that emerges. The pattern consists mainly of great wickedness in a land followed by an outpouring of God’s Spirit upon the church which leads to revival. Basically it happens like this: When the church is “fat and sassy” and everything comes along so easy, there is no need to seek God. But when persecution comes along, then the church is forced to cry out to God for help. This crying out to God usually brings about a series of revivals that we have witnessed over the course of our history (first and second Great Awakening for example).

All is not darkness. And as the saying goes, Post tenebras lux (after darkness, light). I may not be around to see this darkness and light, but one thing is certain. Christ has established his church. He has purchased his church to be his holy bride (Ephesians 5:25). And the gates of hell will not prevail against his church (Matthew 16:18).

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It was after Jesus was put into the tomb that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James went to anoint the body of Jesus. They went to anoint him after the Sabbath on the first day, very early. Much to their suprise, however, Jesus was not there. He had arisen from the dead. The women ran away scared. Because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day, Christians meet on the first day to worship the Lord. Recently I have encountered those who believe we should continue to worship on the same day as the Jewish Sabbath which is our Saturday. These individuals feel that since Jesus rested on the Sabbath (by being dead in the grave) so should we continue to observe the Jewish Sabbath. But is that the case? I think my friends are missing a big point. Jesus rose from the grave on the first day. Paul instructed the Corinthians to lay aside some money on the first day (Sunday) for the relief of the saints in Jerusalem who were suffering persecution (1 Corinthians 16:2). Likewise, John saw the resurrected Lord “on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10), meaning the day that Jesus rose from the grave. The case for worshipping on Sunday rather than Saturday (or any other day of the week for that matter) is not black and white. However, there are good reasons to set aside one day a week to worship God with his body, the church. Christians have historically done this on Sunday BECAUSE that seems to be the New Testament pattern. While my friends contend that Sunday was made the day of worship by Constantine and the Roman Catholic church, I think they are simply overlooking some important biblical texts. Another danger could be a subtle desire to be brought back under the Law. typically groups that insist on meeting on Saturday for worship are extremely “Jewish”. They like the Jewish dietary laws and the Jewish rites. But we are not Jewish, we are Christians. As Paul puts it in Galatians 5 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  More forcefully, the Apostle writes, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel…as we said before, so now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed (damned to hell).” He goes on to warn them about seeking to be justified by the works of the law. Paul says specifically, “For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (6:15). Those who sought to bring the church of Galatia under the Law wanted to do so in order to remove the benefit of the cross. Paul desired that these false teachers would ”emasculate themselves” (5:12). Paul couldnt be any clearer as to how he felt about people seeking to be justified by the works of the Law, without regard to Christ’s work on the cross. Don’t be deceived by those who demand that you live according to the ceremonial regulations of the Jewish religion. Paul’s point in Galatians is that no one can keep the Law entirely and that those who try are only killing themselves. the Law cannot save, it can only kill. Christ came to give life and to fulfill the Law for us. We are to put our faith in Christ and not seek to be justified by the works of the Law.

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