The Controversy of Homosexuality

With Barack Obama announcing his support of homosexual marriage, and the people of the state of North Carolina voting to change the state constitution to say that the only valid "domestic legal partnership" in the state is marriage between a man and a woman, I thought I would comment on this controversial subject.

I've never been one to back down from a controversial conversation.  And I believe that this conversation is an important one, for several reasons.  First, because Christians are being deceived by the lie that homosexual marriage is honoring to God.  Homosexuality is no longer seen as sinful in this culture and is becoming more and more prevalent in the younger generations.  And at the core of all of this, I see 2 reasons why this has happened, and why this will continue to happen, along with more and more sin being not only acceptable, but encouraged:

1) We live in a culture where tolerance is the highest virtue.
2) We no longer believe in a God who does not tolerate sin.

Here's the way I said it in a recent conversation on Facebook, talking with a Wheaton College grad who claims that God is glorified through homosexual marriage:

"Tolerance has become the defining theme of our culture today. It seems like we must tolerate and cater to everyone, even when it seems utterly ridiculous. And this, I argue, is taking away my freedom. Because you see, we can talk about sin all day long and it's totally acceptable. TV shows are now showing the gay lifestyle in great detail (Glee, Smash, just to name a few). But when I start presenting the God of the Bible, the One Who created the universe, the One Who created us male and female, the One Who holds all things together, the One Who we will stand before one day and give an account for our lives, I often times feel like people just want me to shut up. To be nicer to those who are living in direct disobedience to the King. To keep my views to myself because I'm offending certain people. People seem tolerant of just about anything these days, except for when we start talking about Jesus. Nobody wants to hear what God has to say anymore...and certainly not the God of the Bible. And so we've created a new god. A god who is just as tolerant of sin as we are, because after all, tolerance is our defining characteristic. So why take the time to get to know the real God, when I can just put words in His mouth, ideas in His brain, and change the plot of the greatest story ever told? Why not start believing that He is totally accepting of the homosexual lifestyle and any other sin? Why not start insisting that those in the LBGT community can bring glory to Him through their sinful relationships? People have cried just from reading some of these posts! That's how tolerant we are of this! Christians, who claim to know and love Jesus, are giving approval and even defending this sin in our culture. In our great quest for total tolerance, we've become intolerant of the Word of God."

I believe that this is an issue that we as believers must not back down from.  We are commanded to love sinners, not to love sin.  So this is directed to those who claim to know and love Jesus, yet are either living outside the guidelines that God has set for us, or are giving approval to those who are.  Homosexual relationships are not, and have never been acceptable to God.  I wanted to post one more interaction from my conversation on Facebook.  The first is from a girl who chimed in with her opinion, followed by my response.  Hopefully, you see my heart in this matter:


"Robbie- why is it everybody else's business on what someone chooses to do? If a man wants to sleep with a man... according to the Bible he's going to Hell right? So let him go to Hell. The government has NO RIGHT to say no gay marriage. It's not their business nor their bodies. And from what I remember... homosexuals pay their taxes every April 17th just like all the straight people. So why shouldn't they get the same benefits? Why can't we all just worry about bettering ourselves and not give a damn what strangers do nor where they'll end up in the afterlife?"

My Response:
"My statements are intended for Bible believing Christians who I feel are ignoring truth in the Bible. And here's why I can't just worry about bettering myself and not give a damn what strangers do nor where they'll end up in the afterlife. Because love demands that people know the truth. How much would I have to hate someone, to believe in an eternal lake of fire, and not tell them that they're headed for it unless they change their ways? Yet this is what so many Christians do. We don't tell people. Yet those Christians are seen as "nice" and "respectable" by the world. But I don't want to stand before God on the last day and know that I was seen as nice and respectable by the world. I'm not living for the approval of man. I'm living for the approval of God, and He has commanded us to go into the world and tell people that His Son is the only way to heaven, that He has standards, and that unforgiven sin is the only thing that can keep us out of heaven. My beliefs, lived out, demand that I live honestly. If not, I'm living in hatred towards those who don't know God. So when I call sin out and tell people that they need Jesus, I don't think I'm being mean or overstepping my bounds. I think it's the most loving thing I can possibly do for someone, to tell them how they can have a relationship with Jesus and spend eternity with Him. While there may be greater issues that the government could focus on than homosexual marriage, there is no greater issue in all of life, than whether or not we know Jesus."


Romans 1:16-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Ephesians 5


I feel like I could write a book on this, but at the end of the day, God's Word speaks for itself.  I'm so excited that I get to spend a summer with Jr. High and High School students from all over America.  I'm excited that I get to talk about the righteous, glorious, holy God of the Bible.  I think having a right perspective of who God is, and even talking about Him in a way that demonstrates our total awe for Him, helps shape the way we see the world around us.  As A.W. Tozer said, "What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us."  

To close, we're all sinners. Each person has their unique struggles. I don't think I'm any better than a homosexual. I just don't share that struggle. But I'm a sinner, just like them. The playing ground is level. We've all fallen short of God's glory. Recognizing how and where we've fallen short, is the first step towards radical obedience.

 

Update on our plans for Israel

If you've been sitting around lately wondering, "I wonder whatever happened to Robbie and Lauren's plans to move to Israel?" than this blog post is for you!  As many of you know, Israel has been on the horizon for us for quite a while. 

Lauren and I in Jerusalem (winter of 2010)

It's been over 2 years now since we were there, but we still want to go back.  We had been starting up the process of going with a certain mission agency and thought that things were moving ahead when God totally slammed the door on those plans.  To make a long story short, we were rejected by that agency because the missionaries in Israel that are with that agency, must extend an invitation to us to come to Israel, in order for us to be sent by that agency.  The missionaries could not extend an invitation to us because they were experiencing "growing pains" in their ministry, and could not take on any more people.  Thus, we were back to square one.  We're going through the missionary prep program at College Church in Wheaton, and still have a desire to serve the Lord full time.  We believe that at some point, we will end up in Israel, but at this point, we have surrendered our plans to the Lord and are willing to be used by Him, anywhere He should choose.  For now, that means serving Him right here in the suburbs of Chicago, working at LeaderTreks.

Lauren and I will be in Pawley's Island, SC this summer, leading mission trips for youth groups from all over America. 

We were able to visit our site a couple of weeks ago and are very excited about our summer there.  It is known as a vacation spot because of the beautiful beaches and nice golf courses, but there are some really poor neighborhoods on the main land, and that is where we'll be spending the majority of our time.  If you'd like to read more about where we'll be and what we'll be doing, click here. 

If you live in South Carolina and would like to come out at some point to see what we're doing, we'd love to see you.  Please feel free to get in contact with Lauren or myself and let us know!      

Forever change the way you think about rain!!

I had a professor at Columbia International University, who once opened a class on a rainy day with these words: "I think God doesn't like it when we walk outside on a rainy day and say, 'Oh no!  It's raining!'"  I've always remembered that, because I think that is generally our response to rain.  We see it as an inconvenience, a pain, something to be dealt with.  However, according to Scripture, we ought to see it as a great, unsearchable, wonder of God.  Below, I've typed out a short devotional by John Piper from his book, "Taste and See," as he talks about rain, based on Job 5:8-10.  I think it will forever change how you think about rain.

Job 5:8-10

"But as for me, I would seek God, 

And I would place my cause before God;

Who does great and unsearchable things, 

Wonders without number.

He gives rain on the earth

And sends water on the fields."

       "If you said to someone: 'My God does great and unsearchable things; he does wonders without number,' and they responded, 'Really?  Like what?' would you say, 'Like rain'?  When I read these verses from Job recently, I felt, at first, the way I did on hearing some bad poetry that went something like this: 'Let me suffer, let me die, just to win your hand; let me even climb a hill, or walk across the land.'  Even?  I would suffer and die to have your hand, and even walk across the land?  As if walking across the land were more sacrificial than dying?  This sounded to me like a joke.

       But Job is not joking.  'God does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.  He gives rain on the earth.'  In Job's mind rain really is one of the great, unsearchable wonders that God does.  So when I read this verse a few weeks ago, I resolved not to treat it as meaningless pop musical lyrics.  I decided to have a conversation with myself (which is what I mean by meditation).

       Is rain a great and unsearchable wonder wrought by God?  Picture yourself as a farmer in the Near East, far from any lake or stream.  A few wells keep the family and animals supplied with water.  But if the crops are to grow and the family is to be fed from month to month, water has to come from another source on the fields.  From where?

       Well the sky.  The sky?  Water will come out of the clear blue sky?  Well, not exactly.  Water will have to be carried in the sky from the Mediterranean Sea over several hundred miles, and then poured out on the fields from the sky.  Carried?  How much does it weigh?  Well, if one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that would be 2,323,200 cubic feet of water, which is 17,377,536 gallons, which is 144,735,360 pounds of water.

       That's heavy.  So how does it get up in the sky and stay up there if it's so heavy?  Well, it gets up there by evaporation. Really?  That's a nice word.  What's it mean?  It means that the water stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down.  I see.  Then how does it get down?  Well, condensation happens.  What's that?  The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles between .00001 and .0001 centimeters wide.  That's small.

       What about the salt?  Salt?  Yes, the Mediterranean Sea is saltwater.  That would kill the crops.  What about the salt?  Well, the salt has to be taken out.  Oh.  So the sky picks up millions of pounds of water from the sea, takes out the salt, carries the water (or whatever it is, when it is not water) for three hundred miles, and then dumps it out (now turned into water again) on the farm?

       Well, it doesn't dump it.  If it dumped millions of pounds of water on the farm, the wheat would be crushed.  So the sky dribbles the millions of pounds of water down in little drops.  And they have to be big enough to fall for one mile or so without evaporating, and small enough to keep from crushing the wheat stalks.

       How do all these microscopic specks of water that weigh millions of pounds get heavy enough to fall (if that's the way to ask the question)?  Well, it's called coalescence.  What's that?  It means the specks of water start bumping into each other and join up and get bigger, and when they are big enough, they fall.  Just like that?  Well, not exactly, because they would just bounce off each other instead of joining up if there were no electric field present.  What?  Never mind.  Take my word for it.

       I think, instead, I will just take Job's word for it. I still don't see why drops ever get to the ground, because if they start falling as soon as they are heavier than air, they would be too small not to evaporate on the way down, but if they wait to come down, what holds them up till they are big enough not to evaporate? Yes, I am sure there is a name for that too. But I am satisfied now that, by any name, this is a great and unsearchable thing that God has done. I think I should be thankful - lots more thankful than I am."

Rice FCA Trip

I just wanted to share a link with you that the leader of the Rice FCA group posted on their website.  You can read his brief thoughts on the trip and listen to a few of the student testimonies.  It was a great trip!

Amy and Michael were the 2 students from my site.
http://www.ricefca.com/2012/03/12/trip-recap/

Clearing grass where the bathrooms would be.

Digging the trench for the foundation.

Dennis, our foreman, giving instructions.

The completed walls for the bathrooms!  We stayed till the sun went down to finish.

We had around 200 people at the soccer camp they put on!

Praying with the kids from the soccer camp on the 2nd day.

On the last day we went to Manuel Antonio National Park.  Beautiful!

At the end of the trip, I asked them to, in their opinion, list the qualities of a great leader.  This is what they came up with.  If only we had more leaders with these qualities in the world!  This is why I love working at LeaderTreks.  We get a chance to raise up leaders who desire to look and lead like this. 

Coincidence?

Our missionary partner (Phil Aspegren) sat in the circle at team time, looked around the circle and asked the students if they knew how Jesus separated the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25:31-46.  He went on to tell them the truth of that passage, and that Jesus desires for us to look after those that are in need, the widows, orphans, those who are hungry or thirsty, etc., and that the consequences of not doing these things is potentially to stand before the King of the universe and hear Him say:

"Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.  Then they will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'  Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The reality and weight of those words sunk into my heart. It got me fired up to be doing what I'm doing.  What happened the very next day was no coincidence.

Maddy and Sydney (twin sisters) got sun poisoning.  Their faces swelled up so much that their eyes could barely open.  The sun felt so much closer in the mountains of Costa Rica.  It was hotter, brighter and, apparently, capable of more than just burning us.  So despite their desire to continue on and help with the sidewalk, we made them stay inside and rest (after of course calling a local doctor and taking all necessary precautions).  At some point that day, they had walked up to the kitchen with their adult leader and were sitting at the table inside.  Well, the door to that part of the building almost always stayed open.  So as they were sitting there, a man walked by, having seen a bunch of Americans working furiously and joyfully down the street he had just passed.  He stopped and asked the girls what was going on.  They told him and he walked back to the street where we were working.  He sat down at the corner, about 40-50 yards away from us and just watched.

Eventually, he waved me over, and in broken English, asked if I could give him some water.  Of course!  I obviously didn't have to think twice about that decision!  So I went and filled up a water bottle and brought it back to him.  I sat down on the curb with him and tried to have a conversation in his terrible English and my terrible Spanish.  It wasn't going great.  His name was Ricardo.  I thought I understood that he was a Christian and that he attended the church where we were staying.  Realizing that this conversation was going nowhere, I called Lori over to translate.  I told her what I thought I knew, and she asked him to confirm.  As it turned out, he said that he used to be a Christian and that he used to attend the church, but that now he was  an alcoholic and had just been through a divorce.  He was in some very hard times and had nowhere to go and no one to turn to.  He felt that God could not possibly love him after the things that he had done.

We told him the gospel.  How we were all at one time, enemies of God and were all way too sinful to merit His love.   But that while we were still sinners, still God's enemies, totally deserving of His wrath, He sent His Son and punished Him, instead of us.  All we have to do is believe in Him and live for Him.  But Ricardo kept shaking his head.  "No.  No.  God cannot possibly love me.  There is no way that God could love me!"  We repeated over and over, "Yes.  Jesus loves you.  No sin is too great for Him to forgive.  Jesus loves you."  Tears poured from his eyes as he began to weep, still shaking his head.  "How could God love me?  Doesn't He know what I've done?"  "Yes, He knows exactly what you've done, and He still loves you, more than anyone ever could."  We prayed with him.  He prayed for us.  He knew the truth of the gospel.  All he had to do was believe it.  Unfortunately, we don't know if Ricardo believed it or not.  We didn't see him again after that conversation.

That conversation really hit me in a strange way.  First, the realization that Ricardo never would have heard the gospel that day if Maddy and Sydney hadn't gotten sun poisoning, was an amazing insight into the total sovereignty of God.  There is a reason for suffering.  Even if I can't always see it.

Second, the thought that I also am so undeserving of God's love.  I think one of the reasons that Jesus commanded us to care for the oppressed, is to give us insight into His love for us.  The poor and needy in this world have done nothing to deserve our care or love for them.  But we love them and care for them anyway.  Not because they've earned our help, but because it's who we are as followers of Christ.  He loved us when we didn't deserve it.  What we did deserve, was His wrath, because we had greatly offended Him with our sin.  But He loved us anyway.  So much so, that He died for us.  Am I willing to do that?  Are you willing to do that?  To love people so much, even if they've greatly offended you, that you would die for them?  The very least we can do, is to give them a cold drink of water.  A hot meal.  A new set of clothes.  To visit them when they're sick or in prison.  Because they've earned it?  No.  Then why?  Because we know what it's like to be loved when we didn't deserve it, and because it gives us an opportunity to address their greatest need - their need for a Savior.

Costa Rica Work Project: Mission Impossible

The sun was hot as we stood, waiting for Ciro to finish his conversation with the owner of the parking lot, who also happened to be his brother-in-law.  It felt so good to be in summer weather in January.  As we left the parking lot and began walking the streets of Alajuela, I quickly realized that our missionary partner knew most of the people in this city.  I jokingly asked through Lori's translation, “Do you run the mob down here?”  He laughed and replied, “No, but I have a very large family!”  We spent the day with Ciro, getting acquainted with the town where we would be staying for the next week and getting ready for the arrival of the team the next day.  When we  were shown the work project for that week, I thought back on all of the manual labor I had done over the past 3 years, and I knew that there was no way that a group of high school students with no previous experience, would be able to dig into the side of a hill where there was no flat ground, make it level, mix concrete by hand, pour 492 feet of sidewalk and apply a top coat in just 4 days of work.  It seemed impossible to me, but it was a need of the community.  There were a lot of kids that lived in that neighborhood and the hill made it unsafe for kids to walk in the street...the only street that came in and out of that community.

The next 4 days were incredible.   Without the help of any machines for the entire time (besides welding the forms together) here is what happened.

Wednesday, they tore into the hill and leveled most of the ground.  Thursday, they finished what was left to be leveled and started mixing concrete and pouring the first chunk of sidewalk.  Friday, they needed to have a huge day of work since we were going to be working a few hours less on Saturday because we were going to church Saturday evening.  They worked furiously all day Friday, mixing and pouring for the entire left side of the street, and setting themselves up for success, if they had enough energy.  Saturday, they poured what was left of the right side and applied the top coat to the whole thing.  They completed the project, exhausted but very excited.  I thought it was totally impossible to do what they did.  And they did it in about 3 1/2 days.  I was blown away.  I really think the Lord gave them strength and energy to complete it.  But it wasn't like they just completed it.  They completed it with a joyful working attitude.  The people in the community would come watch them work again and again, because they couldn't believe how happy everyone was during the whole thing.  It was an incredible testimony.  I think the words in Nehemiah 8:10 were seen to be true throughout the whole experience: "The joy of the LORD is your strength."

Here are some pictures, not necessarily in order, of the work project:

Just a handful of kids from the community

Matthew 19:26

"But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"

While this was pretty amazing, we saw God do much bigger things in our time there.  I look forward to sharing one of those in my next post.

Poas Volcano National Park