Homosexual marriage and moral relativism

Rob Bell's in favor of homosexual marriage. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

The former pastor has rejected a biblical view on most issues. His book, "Love Wins," denied a hell for those who have rejected the free gift of redemption from hell through the very expensive death of God the Son on the cross. So to chuck the plain reading of God's word regarding homosexuality should be no acrobatic stretch for him (here).

This is nothing new for those who profess to be leaders of God's people. Long, long ago, God hammered the prophets and religious leaders through the words of Ezekiel.

-- Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing...
-- ...They say, "Declares the LORD," when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word...
-- ...You have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life.

Ezekiel 13:3, 6, 22 

We live in a nation that no longer honors God's word as such. Few in the church adhere to its tenets. Few believe it is his special revelation to his creatures. In fact, if you stand upon God's word, if you truly believe what he has said, if you live your life to honor him and love him in your obedience, you will be mocked, ridiculed, and rejected. The tolerance in America for vocal Bible-believers is wearing thin, and this has caused many church leaders to try and adapt God's word to the culture.

Said Mr. Bell, "I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it's a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think … we need to affirm people wherever they are." Affirm away, but I must ask, is it love to encourage and embrace the actions of another if you know such conduct is a direct affront to the God who loves them? As I pled with my dad and my mom as a lad, "Cigarettes will kill you," do I not have a moral responsibility to declare the truth to those careening toward an eternity of torment separated from the God who so loved his creatures that he provided them an off-ramp from that destination?

Every congressman in America may be in favor of homosexual marriage, but that does not make it good or right. Our nation will continue to reject the absolute nature of God's word. I must not. I cannot. If I untether myself from the only sure anchor-point in the universe, the word of God, all becomes relative. 

I believe Mr. Bell is correct. The ship has sailed. America has left its biblical moorings far behind. Without that foundation, marriage becomes a meaningless merging of any number of persons, creatures, or objects. Why can I not marry my sofa?

In reality, though, Love has won. God the Son absorbed the full wrath and condemnation of God the Father on our behalf. Until man takes hold of that gift and lets God reorient him to reality, he still stands in rebellion and in hostility toward God. He stands condemned and his doom is sure, despite his personal enlightenment on issues cultural and political.

We must remain anchored upon the sure foundation. With tears in our eyes we must continue to cry out to our nation, "Please, don't go that way," and point them back to their God and their Savior.

Even if we are the only one left on the dock.

Amazing rehab. Amazing man.



Buster Posey / AP photo by Morry Gash from ESPN.com

 A few years ago I took a German friend of mine to an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. He left that experience stating without reservation, "Zat vas ze most boring sing I have ever done in my life."

Well, Theo, I love baseball. I could give you more reasons than there are days in a year and most defy logic. The man above is one of the reasons.

Buster Posey is the near-pubescent phenom catcher for the San Francisco Giants. By opening day, he will have turned twenty-six years old. He has amassed two World Series' rings, a batting title, and an MVP. Three of those came after what to most appeared to be a career-ending injury defending home plate.

For those of you who cannot wait until opening day, here are two great articles, one is about Posey's prodigious talent and the other was about what it took for him to get back on the field after the nightmarish injury. Enjoy.

"The quiet confidence of Buster Posey," by Jerry Crasnick, ESPN

"How the Giants put Posey back together", by Andrew Baggarly

The sanctity of work

If you are a Christian who attends a Bible-teaching, Christ-exalting church, have you ever heard a message that includes an annecdote about a young man or woman who is particularly gifted and studying to become a brain surgeon but then "God gets ahold of their life," they chuck all their studies, and soon they turn their full attention to pastoring or the mission field? When you hear such a tale told, the tone is usually giddy. What a great thing this person has done!

Should a believer be concerned about such a radical shift?

We would expect an eye-roll from the world for usually fiscal reasons. Dude, think of all the money you've wasted. Think of all the money you won't be making. To which the career-shifter will smile thinking about the treasures that they are storing up in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). But even a Christian might raise a justifiably skeptical eyebrow at such a move?

Before I go any further, a few thoughts. Many need God to get ahold of their lives because they are careening down the causeway of self toward certain catastrophe. God often alters the direction someone is going in their life and even their vocation (Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew, and Paul to name a vivid few), but as much as God calls men to leave their nets to follow him, much, much more God calls men to stay at their nets and follow him.


Jarome Iginla, Captain - Calgary Flames
Christ follower



Here is my concern. The call of many well-intentioned biblical teachers to "chuck it all for kingdom work" draws a line that the Bible does not, a line of superiority between secular vocation (mechanic, parent, and plumber) and kingdom vocation (generally pastors and missionaries), between secular service (changing oil, changing diapers, and changing toilet rings) and kingdom service (praying, passing out tracts, and potlucks). Vocational work and church-building work are both work that God has given man to do.

Paul admonishes the Corinthians at the end of the section on Spiritual Gifts and love to "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58). Contextually, this speaks to their wide and varied ministries in the church. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul emphasizes the sanctity of all work when he says,

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." (3:23-24)

Now, you cannot be a hooker unto the Lord. Drug dealing for the glory of God doesn't fly. Willful violation of what God has revealed as good and right will never earn his favor.

On the other hand, God is pleased by a well designed insurance building at the hand of a man who does so for the glory of God. God is pleased by the hockey player who hits the weights, skates lines, and shoots thousands of pucks to hone his skills to be the best possible team captain he can be if he does so as serving his true King. God delights in the mom who wipes noses, bandages knees, washes and folds laundry, prepares menus, and...and...and...with joy knowing that her labor that God has assigned her is never in vain.

Please, saint, don't be guilted because you are not in the jungles of Africa (there are men there who ought not be). Don't rue being a school teacher or a home school teacher or a school janitor or a home contractor. Don't be coerced into giving up what has been your passion (very likely God-given) for something else about which you are not white hot...unless God is making this thing very plain to you. Then pursue with leonine veracity.

Whatever you do, whether trying to build a church on the arid coast of Chile or build a restaurant in downtown Chattanooga, labor as unto the Lord and that labor will not be in vain.

(I heard a great sermon on the sancity of work this past weekend by a local pastor.  If you have the time, you'll find it here. If you only have a few minutes, pick it up at about the 14:30 mark and listen for fifteen minutes. It's worth your time.)