John and Anastasia: In short, are you going to take the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously, or are you going to continue to make jokes?

James Forsyth, China 

Roger Branford, Rowville

You have been allowed on this time, but you need to follow the rules, which include stating your full name and city. No such mercy next time!

As to your last remark, are you then accusing homosexual activists like Graham Willett and Dennis Altman of being liars? They have spoken about the very real element of choice in the homosexual lifestyle. As have others. And I personally know of many ex-homosexuals. Of course their existence would threaten your ideology here.

As to Leviticus, with all due respect, one could cut that entire book from the Old Testament, and the case could still be made. Indeed, you could scrap the entire Old Testament, leaving the New Testament alone to clearly proscribe non-heterosexual relations.

So I am afraid you have not contributed all that much of use to the discussion thus far.

Regards
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

1) Since you believe that “the Bible is the inspired Word of God”.

2) Consider the other parts of Leviticus that tell you that you shouldn’t wear clothing of mixed fibres, or eat meat and cheese, or shellfish, or touch pig skin, or about 100 other ritually unclean things.

Then:

3) Wonder how most sportsmen and women can lead that sick and depraved lifestyle when they touch a ball made out of pig skin leather, or how farmers can live a depraved lifestyle of mixed-cropping, or how fast food patrons are living that sick and twisted McDonald’s lifestyle, or….

You get the idea.

Cheers,
Anastasia

P.S. Being gay ain’t a choice.

I am a Christian. Do I hate homosexuals? Absolutely not! Christ himself died for everyone hoping that all will come to find the Father.

Instead of forming my own opinion concerning homosexuality, as a Christian, I find great security in learning how God feels about the issue. I know as a child of God that I am secure if His views and my views agree.

So how do we know how God feels about the issue. I think the most logical answer would be to look in His Word.

Before we do so, you must ask yourself one question.

1. Do you believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God?

If you answered this question with a “yes” then please continue reading. If answered “no” then this posistion will not carry any weight with you.

First, if you do believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, then I suggest reading

Romans 1:18-32 paying close attention to verses 26 and 27.

I find it interesting that Paul describes these unnatural relationships as “shamless” and “degrading” passions. However in

Hebrews 13:4 the Hebrew writer states that marraige should be held in honor by all.

To me this suggests that the proper bond of marraige is held between a man and woman. Obviously, if God intended for the marriage bed to include two men or two women, Paul would not have stated in Romans that it is a “shameless and degrading” act.

Other verses regarding homosexual behavior are:

Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13

Now, if one answered “yes” the the above question, then I’m unclear how one can justify living this lifestyle.

Please understand that I do not hate homosexuals. God desires for me to have love for them, just has He does. However, even though I do love them and am concerned for their eternal state, I do not love their lifestyle.

I feel that homosexuality is sin and that it can be forgiven so that one may have the joys of being in God’s presence.

Knowing God’s will tells me that people are given a choice. It would be unfair of God to command people to live a certain way if they couldn’t have the ability to follow His desires.

1 Timothy 2:3 – 4

Kyle Meyers – Wuhan, China

the thing with standing up for things, is that we all do it all of the time. Unfortunately, we do it based on what we believe to be right. Now that seems Ok until you think perhaps of some people in the past who have stood up for things that did terrible damage, or even killed millions, or…..

So standing up for something that we believe doesn’t make it right. And all of us have a difficult time deciding what IS right.

That’s where God helped me to turn from my many many sins by simply telling me that I was forgiven for them all when I turned away from them and accepted His son as my saviour and allowed Him to show me what HE says is right.

I spent my life telling people what was what. Looking back now, it was all my own steam and confusion. So nowadays I put my trust in the teachings of the one who was planned from the beginning of time to come and make a way for lost people (all of us) to come back to God.

The hard part is admitting that you are wrong. Our human nature rebels entirely against that.

Could you let go of homosexuality? Jesus can help you to let go of anything – if you are willing. I let go of lust , theft, lying, rage, unforgiveness and more… anything and everything, He will cleanse us and forgive us. IF we are willing.

Ron George, Perth 

Frank Jetmar, Melbourne

Bill, first of all: keep up the good work.

John: I think you need to re-read the New Testament. It’s not only “about standing up for the despised”, it’s about adhering to the standards of a God who can’t tolerate sin.

You’ve mentioned that you’re a homosexual. I’m not one who says that homosexuality is a worse sin than any other sin. Sin is sin. Sin is best illustrated and most relieved by the Christian religion. Let me explain.

Sin is best illustrated by the Christian religion: Supposing the story is true of Jesus Christ dying for our sins on the cross (as I believe it is). Now, I am a father. If it took me to slaughter my own son (a toddler) so that your sins would be forgiven, I’d expect some kind of a grateful response. If you or I could say “Oh, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything wrong, I’m an OK person and all”, then we really need to think about our response to this sacrifice that was made on our behalf. The Christian religion illustrates sin in this way. Mankind has rejected the most precious and costly kind of love that anyone could ever have for another: the sacrifice of a family member for the sake of hostile rebels. You don’t think you are a hostile rebel? Well, I think you are. I certainly am. But I acknowledge it, and trust that the cross of Christ will be my redemption, both now and in the end.

Sin is most relieved by the Christian religion: This is my second point. I think it has actually been explained adequately in my previous point. The fact is, other religions demand that you follow rules, pray five times a day, slam airplanes into buildings, empty yourself, sing hari hari and set up vegetarian restaurants or whatever. But Christianity has a God that actually gave of himself, so that if you simply trust in him, and live a life that reflects and honours that trust, you will be saved. The ironic thing is, I suspect you haven’t gone to the websites of adherents of other religions to offer your thoughts (if you have, please provide URLs, which will show your name and date of your blog contributions). Is Islam tolerant of homosexuality? What would be the penalty for buggery (for example) in a state under Islamic law? I think you’ve visited the wrong website. You’re majoring on the minors.

You and I have the same problem. We’re sinners in need of a saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ (regarding whom 4 Gospel writers testified to his life, deeds, death and resurrection) is the answer. This isn’t a verbal answer, or a text answer or a blog answer. It’s a reality answer. He’s a real person who cares about you and me.

James Forsyth, Wuhan, China

It takes guts to stand up for a minority group that has been labelled “shameful”, “vile”, “moral terrorists”, by so-called Christians.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Him, but a fellow called “Jesus of Nazareth” had a lot to say about standing up for the despised.

John Kloprogge, North Croydon

Frank Jetmar, Melbourne