Some Help and Hope in Light of the Supreme Court Decision to Declare Gay Marriage a Right Under the 14th Amendment
A Note to Pastors on Preaching in Light of the SCOTUS decision on Same-Sex Marriage from ERLC on Vimeo.
(Note: I don't agree with the link of the Church to the New Jerusalem in Revelation but agree with the rest of what Brother Moore said. I believe the New Jerusalem is a literal entity that will descend from heaven and inhabit space on the New Earth as described in Revelation, not to be spiritualized as the Church)
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
(includes dissents)
A note from me to the general population, especially those who support and celebrate what the Supreme Court has done
When the Supreme Court overturns the will of the people expressed in majorities of voters in various states (esp. by a slim majority), it shouldn't be cause for rejoicing.
If the people in those states were wrong, it is a shame and stain on our people that the court had to side with right against them.
If the people were right, what a tragedy that so few could so powerfully reject the popular consensus in those states and exercise an elite decision that jams wrong down their throats.
So there's nothing to celebrate. The nation remains divided as 5 people awarded millions a great victory while giving other millions a crushing defeat.
A divided America is not something to celebrate but to mourn and the only way to begin to heal those wounds is one civil conversation after another, one on one, continuing the process 5 unelected elites sought to end.
Prayer, Not Despair
by Max Lucado • June 26
A note from me to the general population, especially those who support and celebrate what the Supreme Court has done
When the Supreme Court overturns the will of the people expressed in majorities of voters in various states (esp. by a slim majority), it shouldn't be cause for rejoicing.
If the people in those states were wrong, it is a shame and stain on our people that the court had to side with right against them.
If the people were right, what a tragedy that so few could so powerfully reject the popular consensus in those states and exercise an elite decision that jams wrong down their throats.
So there's nothing to celebrate. The nation remains divided as 5 people awarded millions a great victory while giving other millions a crushing defeat.
A divided America is not something to celebrate but to mourn and the only way to begin to heal those wounds is one civil conversation after another, one on one, continuing the process 5 unelected elites sought to end.
Some helpful links for Christians in light of the decision:
Prayer, Not Despair
by Max Lucado • June 26
Excerpt: Our society seemed to take a seismic shift today. The decision of the SCOTUS regarding same-sex marriage has the potential to leave many Christians anxious and troubled. While those of us who hold to traditional marriage have a right to be concerned, we have no need to despair. What we need is a good dose of this Scripture:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Ph. 4:6,7)
Understanding Same-Sex Marriage
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of same-sex marriage makes the understanding of homosexuality and same-sex marriage as important as ever. What does the Bible say? How should we respond to those who challenge or disagree with us? What should we teach our children?
FamilyLife is here to provide you with the resources and tools you need to answer these tough questions. You can tune into FamilyLife Today® on Monday to hear Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine respond to the ruling, and we invite you to read through some of our most popular articles on the topic.
Don Carson Responds to the SCOTUS Ruling on (So-Called) Same Sex Marriage
June 26, 2015 • Topic: Marriage & Family
So-Called Same-Sex Marriage: Lamenting the New Calamity
by Dr. John Piper June 26, 2015
Excerpt: Jesus died so that heterosexual and homosexual sinners might be saved. Jesus created sexuality, and has a clear will for how it is to be experienced in holiness and joy.
His will is that a man might leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and that the two become one flesh (Mark 10:6–9). In this union, sexuality finds its God-appointed meaning, whether in personal-physical unification, symbolic representation, sensual jubilation, or fruitful procreation.
For those who have forsaken God’s path of sexual fulfillment, and walked into homosexual intercourse or heterosexual extramarital fornication or adultery, Jesus offers astonishing mercy.
Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
But today this salvation from sinful sexual acts was not embraced. Instead there was massive institutionalization of sin.
In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States of America has ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage.
The Bible is not silent about such decisions. Alongside its clearest explanation of the sin of homosexual intercourse (Romans 1:24–27) stands the indictment of the approval and institutionalization of it. Though people know intuitively that homosexual acts (along with gossip, slander, insolence, haughtiness, boasting, faithlessness, heartlessness, ruthlessness) are sin, “they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:29–32). “I tell you even with tears, that many glory in their shame” (Philippians 3:18–19).
This is what the highest court in our land did today — knowing these deeds are wrong, “yet approving those who practice them.”
My sense is that we do not realize what a calamity is happening around us. The new thing — new for America, and new for history — is not homosexuality. That brokenness has been here since we were all broken in the fall of man. (And there is a great distinction between the orientation and the act — just like there is a great difference between my orientation to pride and the act of boasting.)
What’s new is not even the celebration and approval of homosexual sin. Homosexual behavior has been exploited, and reveled in, and celebrated in art, for millennia. What’s new is normalization and institutionalization. This is the new calamity.
My main reason for writing is not to mount a political counter-assault. I don’t think that is the calling of the church as such. My reason for writing is to help the church feel the sorrow of these days. And the magnitude of the assault on God and his image in man.
Christians, more clearly than others, can see the tidal wave of pain that is on the way. Sin carries in it its own misery: “Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27).
And on top of sin’s self-destructive power comes, eventually, the final wrath of God: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:5–6).
Christians know what is coming, not only because we see it in the Bible, but because we have tasted the sorrowful fruit of our own sins. We do not escape the truth that we reap what we sow. Our marriages, our children, our churches, our institutions — they are all troubled because of our sins.
The difference is: We weep over our sins. We don’t celebrate them. We don’t institutionalize them. We turn to Jesus for forgiveness and help. We cry to Jesus, “who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
This Bill Would Stop Obama Administration From Punishing People Who Stand Up for Marriage
Ryan T. Anderson / Roger Severino / June 17, 2015
Excerpt: In April, members of the Supreme Court asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, the federal government’s top lawyer, if the administration could strip religious schools that believe marriage is the union of husband and wife of their tax-exempt status should the Court redefine marriage. Verrilli responded by saying “[i]t’s certainly going to be an issue.”
Congress took the administration at its word and today introduced the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) to guarantee such a scenario never becomes “an issue.”
This bill, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, is good policy in part because it is so simple. It says that the federal government cannot discriminate against people and institutions that speak and act according to their belief that marriage is a union of one man and one woman. That’s it in a nutshell.
President Obama should support the First Amendment Defense Act given his previous stand in favor of male-female marriage, made as late as 2012, and his more recent remarks: “On an issue as sensitive as this, knowing that Americans hold a wide range of views based on deeply held beliefs, maintaining our nation’s commitment to religious freedom is also vital.”
2. I understand rejection
3. I also was tempted
4. I want more for you
5. I will be here for you
(open the link to read the details)
PA newspaper BANS letters/op-eds supporting marriage between husband/wifeJUNE 26, 2015
By: Dan Bartkowiak
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Ph. 4:6,7)
Understanding Same-Sex Marriage
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of same-sex marriage makes the understanding of homosexuality and same-sex marriage as important as ever. What does the Bible say? How should we respond to those who challenge or disagree with us? What should we teach our children?
FamilyLife is here to provide you with the resources and tools you need to answer these tough questions. You can tune into FamilyLife Today® on Monday to hear Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine respond to the ruling, and we invite you to read through some of our most popular articles on the topic.
Don Carson Responds to the SCOTUS Ruling on (So-Called) Same Sex Marriage
June 26, 2015 • Topic: Marriage & Family
(note: I would disagree on his statement of the new covenant age but see instead the Church age which will end with the coming of our Lord and the beginning of the Tribulation. The new covenant will not be fully realized until Christ puts all enemies under His feet)
So-Called Same-Sex Marriage: Lamenting the New Calamity
by Dr. John Piper June 26, 2015
Excerpt: Jesus died so that heterosexual and homosexual sinners might be saved. Jesus created sexuality, and has a clear will for how it is to be experienced in holiness and joy.
His will is that a man might leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and that the two become one flesh (Mark 10:6–9). In this union, sexuality finds its God-appointed meaning, whether in personal-physical unification, symbolic representation, sensual jubilation, or fruitful procreation.
For those who have forsaken God’s path of sexual fulfillment, and walked into homosexual intercourse or heterosexual extramarital fornication or adultery, Jesus offers astonishing mercy.
Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
But today this salvation from sinful sexual acts was not embraced. Instead there was massive institutionalization of sin.
In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States of America has ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage.
The Bible is not silent about such decisions. Alongside its clearest explanation of the sin of homosexual intercourse (Romans 1:24–27) stands the indictment of the approval and institutionalization of it. Though people know intuitively that homosexual acts (along with gossip, slander, insolence, haughtiness, boasting, faithlessness, heartlessness, ruthlessness) are sin, “they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:29–32). “I tell you even with tears, that many glory in their shame” (Philippians 3:18–19).
This is what the highest court in our land did today — knowing these deeds are wrong, “yet approving those who practice them.”
My sense is that we do not realize what a calamity is happening around us. The new thing — new for America, and new for history — is not homosexuality. That brokenness has been here since we were all broken in the fall of man. (And there is a great distinction between the orientation and the act — just like there is a great difference between my orientation to pride and the act of boasting.)
What’s new is not even the celebration and approval of homosexual sin. Homosexual behavior has been exploited, and reveled in, and celebrated in art, for millennia. What’s new is normalization and institutionalization. This is the new calamity.
My main reason for writing is not to mount a political counter-assault. I don’t think that is the calling of the church as such. My reason for writing is to help the church feel the sorrow of these days. And the magnitude of the assault on God and his image in man.
Christians, more clearly than others, can see the tidal wave of pain that is on the way. Sin carries in it its own misery: “Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27).
And on top of sin’s self-destructive power comes, eventually, the final wrath of God: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:5–6).
Christians know what is coming, not only because we see it in the Bible, but because we have tasted the sorrowful fruit of our own sins. We do not escape the truth that we reap what we sow. Our marriages, our children, our churches, our institutions — they are all troubled because of our sins.
The difference is: We weep over our sins. We don’t celebrate them. We don’t institutionalize them. We turn to Jesus for forgiveness and help. We cry to Jesus, “who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
This Bill Would Stop Obama Administration From Punishing People Who Stand Up for Marriage
Ryan T. Anderson / Roger Severino / June 17, 2015
Excerpt: In April, members of the Supreme Court asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, the federal government’s top lawyer, if the administration could strip religious schools that believe marriage is the union of husband and wife of their tax-exempt status should the Court redefine marriage. Verrilli responded by saying “[i]t’s certainly going to be an issue.”
Congress took the administration at its word and today introduced the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) to guarantee such a scenario never becomes “an issue.”
This bill, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, is good policy in part because it is so simple. It says that the federal government cannot discriminate against people and institutions that speak and act according to their belief that marriage is a union of one man and one woman. That’s it in a nutshell.
President Obama should support the First Amendment Defense Act given his previous stand in favor of male-female marriage, made as late as 2012, and his more recent remarks: “On an issue as sensitive as this, knowing that Americans hold a wide range of views based on deeply held beliefs, maintaining our nation’s commitment to religious freedom is also vital.”
Dear Gay Community: Your Kids Are Hurting
I loved my mom’s partner, but another mom could never have replaced the father I lost.
5 Things Jesus Says to the Gay Community
1. I love you
I loved my mom’s partner, but another mom could never have replaced the father I lost.
By Heather Barwick, MARCH 17, 2015
1. I love you
2. I understand rejection
3. I also was tempted
4. I want more for you
5. I will be here for you
(open the link to read the details)
PA newspaper BANS letters/op-eds supporting marriage between husband/wifeJUNE 26, 2015
By: Dan Bartkowiak
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