GAY TRUTH

Below is my response to an email I received that asked the following question: “I believe church should be for all of God’s children. No exceptions. I am a gay man . My question is, would I be fully accepted with no judgment and fully welcome and able to serve at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church ?” I have changed all of the identifying information, but other than that, my response is in full below. I hope that it will be helpful to others facing similar questions.    Dear D, Welcome home to the beautiful Bluegrass. It is great to hear from you and to hear of your previous connection with Ashland. What a ministry this church has had for almost 100 years. As to your question, it depends on what you mean by “I am a gay man” and what you mean by “accepted completely with no judgment and fully welcome and able to serve at Ashland Avenue?” If by “I am a gay man” you mean that you struggle with same-sex attraction , recognizing any sexual activity outside of a covenant marriage

In particular, a couple of commenters listed a number of popular arguments for why they believe homosexuality is reconcilable with Christianity. I wanted to take Thursday and Friday to address a couple of those arguments that I encounter most often. My hope is that I might serve those who erroneously believe that faith in Jesus and His Word can be reconciled with attempts to legitimize homosexuality. I honestly think that this issue gets to the very heart of the disagreement. This goes deeper than just our views on homosexuality or the definition of marriage. It strikes at the very core of the worldview of contemporary wisdom. It has to do with the notion of love. The objection goes something like this: “In the midst of all of your attention to details of various Bible verses, you’ve lost the big picture. The cardinal virtue that Jesus taught His followers was love. If you value love, what’s the problem with two consenting adults making a commitment to each other out of love? Love

Stained glass window of the sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in the former Mosque (Cathedral) of Cordoba, Spain (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Jesus Christ - detail from Deesis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Be ye therefore followers of God , as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour ." ( Ephesians 5:1-2 ) Incense in Scripture has a variety of rich and meaningful usages, particularly as related to the blood sacrifice . "And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: . . . And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee" ( Exodus 30:1, 6 ). Without this incense, it was impossible to meet with God in this prescribed way. It was to be offered both morning and evening (vv. 7-8 ). Great care was to be taken in its preparation

Baroque altar of the Suffering Christ in the parish church in Lepoglava, Croatia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Turning from you sin and receiving restoration and healing is wonderful for those drowning in the sin of homosexuality.  Your sanctification and daily walk with God will involve temptation and suffering. SSA and the sinful lure of the homosexual sin will bring a form of suffering which you will need to be fight daily.  Take some time to meditate on the wisdom of God as He works out His perfect will through our suffering . No wonder James , the brother of our Lord, commanded us to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” ( James 1:2 )! Suffering is used to increase our awareness of the sustaining power of God to whom we owe our sustenance ( Ps 68:19 ). God uses suffering to refine, perfect, strengthen, and keep us from falling ( Ps 66:8-9 ; Heb 2:10 ). Suffering allows the life of Christ to be manifested in our mortal flesh ( 2 Cor 4:7-