It Gets Better

"It gets better," is the phrase Gays and lesbians have adopted as a kind of slogan to keep the newer generation of young people motivated in their fight for equality.

For the last forty plus years the Gay movement has been building momentum and has worked hard in our nation to change our perspective and our thoughts about them. See the timeline here. Over decades, and in the 1990's, they have clarified and identified themselves as group, an acronym: LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender). Originally, a community, now they strive to become a minority. Hispanics, blacks, immigrants, and women are considered minorities. On many forms it asks you to identify yourself as a minority. I know somewhere along the line, the LGBT identifier will be there. They have become organized, have found sympathy among celebrities and even our president, President Obama. I have heard him twice, with my own ears, mention the LGBT community in some of his presidential addresses.

They understand that in this nation you can influence change through the court system and gay marriage has been gaining ground. Same sex marriage has taken momentum in many states and is spreading slowly. It was in the 1970's that homosexuality was voted by pressure not by scientific fact, out of the status of mental illness(Source). It was a mental illness until then, even Sigmund Freud had referred to homosexuality on many occasions in his writings, and he concluded that paranoia and homosexuality were inseparable. 

What does the Bible say about homosexuality? Lets explore it.

Genesis 13: ¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³ But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.

In Genesis 19:5, angels had arrived to Lot's house in Sodom and the men of the city approached Lot's house  and the story says: ⁵ 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. KJV Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” NKJV In the New International Version it is written in plain English, starting with verse 4: Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

Leviticus 20:13 NKJV  If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.

1 Timothy 1:8 NKJV But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
⁹ Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,¹⁰ for  fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,

Romans 1:26 NIV  Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV

⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

The Bible clearly states the standard set by God regarding homosexuality and lesbianism. He hates sin,but he loves his creation. Unfortunately, He is holy and where there is a sinful lifestyle, God cannot share an intimate relationship with them. Homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible. If the Bible truly is inspired by God, then his stance is clear. Sin can come in many forms. Sin is sin. Do not believe that pointing out a homosexual or lesbian's sinful lifestyle and choices is worst than any other sin many people commit. Sin is sin and it keeps you from God and from eternal life and leads ultimately to eternal condemnation. 

I had spoken to a young man, who professed to be homosexual. He ranted about how much he had been criticized for his lifestyle in other churches and he expected me to join in on the criticism. He was looking for an excuse not to come back to our church. I did not give him one, I just told him we all have sinned and we all need to repent in order to be right with God. Your sins might be different from mine I told him, but my sins were an obstacle to heaven, until I asked God for forgiveness and repented and turned away from them. He left church that day not because I attacked him with how bad or sinful homosexuality was, no, he left because he said he liked being homosexual and wasn't willing to let it go. As a minister and a Christian who loves people, I represented my church, I was not going to be just another Christian, who was fast to criticize, but I pointed out we all have sinned and how with sin, we could never make it to heaven. 

The Gay movement continues with their agenda of acceptance, and with defending their sin and our disagreement will always be with what is written in the word of God. We should show them the love of God, as God does not love the sin, but he loves the sinner. We need to be clear and teach what the Bible says and not be first to cast the first stone. What's your voice? Let's hear it!

Be Careful Who You Curse

  In the Book of Numbers 24:9, the Bible tells us, regarding the Nation of Israel, that God delivered them out of bondage in Egypt, and said:  “He crouched. He lay down as a lion, and as a great lion. Who shall stir him up? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.” God voiced that he would stand up for his people.

      

     In the New Testament, In Luke 7:1-10, we see the story of a highly ranked Roman officer, who openly blessed the Jews with a synagogue. When his servant, became deathly ill, the Jewish elders went to Jesus and explained how the centurion had blessed them and deserved help. Jesus healed his servant immediately. A blessing.

    

     Now, consider a more recent example, like that of Hitler. Adolph Hitler was the twentieth century's most infamous example of a persecutor of the Jewish people. His plans for world domination were crushed and his life ended with suicide. 

Behind Hitler was Germany, a country who led an outright assault and persecution of the Jews, they had been a major world power before WWII. But, since the Holocaust, they have never again gained the world prominence that they held before Hitler. A curse.

    

     Spain, also illustrates the curse principle on a national scale. In 1492, a royal edict to expulsion was announced, which gave Jews only two months to leave Spain or convert to Catholicism. Leaving was not easy, when no money, jewels, gold or other portable forms of wealth could be taken out of Spain. Some Jews sold large farms and all they owned for a donkey to pack a few personal items, to leave Spain. Jews who remained were forced to become Catholics, under pain of torture and death for refusal. Under Queen Isabella, Spain had been a world power, capable of financing expeditions to the New World, and claiming large portions of the Americas for the glory of Spain. 

Within a hundred years after the expulsion of the Jews, Spain was no longer a dominant world power, today they never again rose to such prominence in world affairs as they held before their persecution of the Jews. 

    

     The United States may be the most interesting example of God's promise. We have been Israel's best ally on the world stage. We support them and have helped Israel many times, including during the 1967 Six Day War. Although our help during the conflict was very late and minimal, at least we were on the right side when we finally acted. Today, many nations recognize our commitment to their survival.

     
     United States has been a channel of blessings for Israel. Some say that the only reason God has not brought judgment on our nation is that we are friends with Israel. For whatever reason, we are still prosperous and blessed. We bless Israel. 

God’s promise will always be kept and those who bless Israel will be blessed. Those who curse Israel will be cursed. In Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your family and your father's house, to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

     Recently, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, died of cancer. He had a strong ideology and had accomplished a lot for himself as president of his country. Most definitely, he had a gift for talking and could speech the camera for hours. He has always spoken negative about the United States and made clear his alliance and allegiance to Cuba, Iran and the Soviet Union. Then he crossed the line, he cursed Israel. In his words, from his soul and from his visceral, which means his insides he said I curse Israel. Then the curse called cancer ate his insides and robbed him of life. Watch the video below. A sad end to any human being's life...so, be careful who you curse. Voice your opinion I want to hear it! 

The Beginning of the End? Part 1 The Pope

     Days are flying by. Events are leading to the inevitable...the end of the world. The Catholic Cardinals are arriving to the Vatican from all over the world. Just last month, Monday February 11, 2013 Pope Benedict XVI, who is 85 years old, resigned due to his poor health. The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415. For many years I had read and been taught that the Pope and the Vatican had a lot to do with end time events as prophesied by the Bible in the book of Revelations.
   
     Here is Revelations 13 vs.13: Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
   
     The beast coming from the sea is in reference to a highly populated area, multitude of people, in other words; Europe. Specifically the Vatican in Rome, where the Pope lives and governs the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican is in Rome, Rome is in Italy and Italy is in Europe. The Roman Empire was the world dominator in the times of Jesus, they ruled the world at that time. And though the Roman Empire disappeared, it went into a reduced state with world wide power and influence, this time religious. In the world there are 7.74 billion people and around 1.2 Billion are Catholic, that is a great number of people to have influence over. The Pope is the Pastor or shepherd of these sheep.

     The Catholic heads or Cardinals are in Rome already in the Vatican and they will start their meetings on Monday March 4. There job will be to choose the next Pope. Could this be the last Pope that will be the Beast who will assist the AntiChrist? One interesting non-biblical prophesy regarding the Popes is the prophesies of St. Malachy. Saint Malachy was a 12th century Irish monk, who, while on a visit to Rome had a vision. As the legend goes, Malachy experienced what is today considered a famous vision commonly called “The Prophecy of the Popes.” Malachy saw and committed to paper, a series of Latin phrases describing the popes to come. Malachy made the prophecy in 1139. Reportedly it was entrusted to Pope Innocent II in 1140. But, for some reason it was lost in the Vatican for 400 years, only to be discovered in 1595 A.D. The prophecy is composed of Latin verses predicting each of the Roman Catholic popes from Pope Celestine II to the final pope, “Peter the Roman,” whose reign would end in the destruction of Rome. According to this ancient prophecy, the very next pope following Benedict XVI) will be the final pontiff, Petrus Romanus or Peter the Roman.

    The final segment of the prophecy reads,"In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations; when they are over, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the terrible or fearsome Judge will judge his people." Though this is just a legend, it might not have been inspired by God at all, but it sure sounds interesting.

     The Bible is God's word and we can find everything you ever need to know. From the origin of this world, to the revelation of God through his interaction with man, to the old testament revelation of the messiah and savior of the world, through the end of our world as we know it. The Bible is God's infinite mind compressed into a finite understanding, which is what we can use to understand him. In other words our small minds could never fathom or fully understand all of God. So, he revealed himself through his word, Jesus Christ incarnated and his Holy Scriptures. The end is clear. Jesus Christ will return to earth as a thief in the night, to lift up or rapture his Bride, the church and the Bible tells us how it will all end. We are witnessing the end times, the Pope is a marker and one of many things that usher in the 2nd coming of Christ. Are you ready for him or are you living distracted with the things of this world. All we can do is watch the signs and stay awake. We are watching things unravel before are eyes. We are in the front row of the end times. Are you ready for the next Pope?