Category Archives: Defending Traditional Marriage

by | September 9, 2015 · 2:01 pm

Ashley Lied

Her Father

You may have already heard the news, but a hacker released the names and information of men who used the services of the illicit affair provider Ashley Madison.

Screen grab from website

Screen grab from website

Unfortunately for her (I say “her” only because it seems appropriate in a proverbial sort of way) suitors, Ashley Madison was not able to provide complete anonymity to those to whom she promised could arrange an adulterous affair. No, all of her safeguards were useless. She lied.

Well, I guess you could say I am being a little unfair. Ashley Madison didn’t technically lie about keeping the secrets of men wanting to have affairs; she was hacked. But in reality, why would anyone have believed her promises in the first place? After all, she is of her father, the devil, and he is the father of lies.

Other Lies

If Ashley Madison didn’t lie when she said she would keep her suitors’ confidential information secure, then it was the only lie she didn’t tell. As a matter of fact, Ashley Madison was well versed in many lies of which her father, Satan, has been using for ages…some of which are made more dangerous because of the included element of truth.

Ashley Madison’s motto is “Life is short. Have an affair.” Truth is, life is short, especially in comparison to eternity. But what the motto doesn’t tell us is that the consequences of sin can last a lifetime, and eternity is even longer.

Ironically, I just logged on to Ashley Madison’s website and found a few other blatant lies still posted.

  • Over 40,860,000 anonymous members
  • 100% discreet service
  • Trusted Security Award
  • “Our Married Dating Services for Married individuals Work.”

Consequences

Now that the names are coming out, people are killing themselves. How’s that for “marriage dating services…that work?” What was Ashley Madison’s plan? For people to be happy? To have fulfilling marriages characterized by faithfulness? Not hardly.

Like I stated before, Ashley Madison (and her creators) is just like her father the devil and all the “strange women” he has always used to bring men and marriages to destruction.

“For the lips of a strange woman drop [as] an honeycomb, and her mouth [is] smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.” – Proverbs 5:3-5

More men will be seduced. More names will come out. More marriages will be ruined. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

“Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. … For the ways of man [are] before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.” – Proverbs 5:15, 21

Be warned.

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by | September 5, 2015 · 2:37 pm

I Love My Wife

Lifeway

Here I sit in a large Lifeway book store, a Bible and notebook in my lap, a cup of coffee (from Dunkin Donuts) beside me, my phone in my hand, studying, waiting on my daughter to get out of a meeting, and thinking of my wife. 

Lifeway is a Christian bookstore chain. Believe it or not, my wife and I actually spent one of our anniversary date nights strolling through and shopping in a Lifeway store. Why? Because it’s our kind of place – it’s all about the Lord and Saviour we love, Jesus. It’s where we feel like kids in a candy store, but without the risk of overexposure to calories. 

Likes 

In a recent marriage counseling session (yes, we go to one now and then), we discussed life changes and the risk of growing apart. One of the ways couple risk growing apart is by losing interest in the same things, not enjoying the same things together as a couple. 

We used to like some things we don’t like anymore. There are some things one likes, but the other doesn’t. However, Lifeway is one if those things /places we certainly enjoy together. That will never change, because we are both in love with the store’s purpose – Jesus. 

Loves

I don’t say it enough, especially for the whole world to read, but I love my wife! I love Valerie. I will love her with emotion and with action till the day we part in death, maybe longer. 

But the reason our love, our marriage, has survived over 21 years is because we are both in love with Someone else – Jesus. 

Picture a triangle. At the top of the triangle, the single Point, is Jesus, the Son of God.  At the bottom left and right are Valerie and me. The closer we get to Him, the closer we get to each other. Because of Jesus, no matter the likes and dislikes that change with times and seasons, our love for each other can grow and grow without limitation – because we can never get close enough to Him. 

I just wanted to tell the world how much I love my wife. And the closer we both grow, I hope you can tell it, especially in our mutual love for God. 

Love Jesus; love each other. Simple. 

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by | September 3, 2015 · 10:55 pm

America Joins the World…In Persecuting Christians

Don’t misunderstand me, the persecution being leveled at Christians in American is nothing like what many endure around the globe; we are not having our heads cut off and we have yet been fed to the lions. However, what we saw today was the undeniable beginning of a change in the fabric of what was once a nation that cherished religious freedom.

Literally, a Christian woman in Kentucky, Kim Davis, was jailed because she could not comply with a judicial mandate to sign same-sex marriage licenses. (#IStandWithKimDavis)

What is our country coming to? What is becoming of our religious freedoms? Whatever happened to “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”?It is all part of what is natural in this fallen world: all things progress towards godlessness.

And it’s nothing new, either. From the very beginning of the Christian church there have been those in government writing laws demanding Jesus’ disciples be silent. In Acts 4:18-19 we read where Peter essentially said, “You guys write whatever laws you think is right, but we cannot stop being who we are and talking about what we know to be true.”

Later, after being put in prison, delivered by an angel, then brought again before the court, Peter and the other apostles said, “… We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). That is all Kim Davis is trying to do, and she is paying for it with her freedom – in a country which once prided itself on religious freedom.

Earlier today I posted the following of Facebook:

Person 1: “I want what has never existed, what most people don’t want, what goes against nature, and you must give it to me, or else! And by “else” I mean if you don’t, I will harass you, malign your character, threaten you with financial and physical harm, ban you from the market place, and even put you in jail. Oh, and you must not only give me what I demand, but you must publicly support my desire for having it and help others obtain it, despite your trepidations. Oh, and you must like it, too!! Because if you say anything negative you hate me and must be punished.”

Person 2: “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. There are other places you can go for you to get what you want – here is a list – but I just can’t, according to my conscience, give you what you want.”

Which one is forcing his/her beliefs on the other?

Person 2, duh!! Because 2 is a Christian.

My heart is broken for my country.

https://www.tedcruz.org/news/cruz-i-call-upon-every-believer-every-constitutionalist-every-lover-of-liberty-to-stand-with-kim-davis/

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by | June 17, 2015 · 12:53 am

Things I Stand “For”

Judgmental Piranhas

There is an unending current full of piranha-like detractors, each taking a bite out of the weary and flailing defenders of normality left floating in the sea of change. After the sinking of the USS Common Sense, many are floating aimlessly, constantly being bitten by those who preach the disemboweling and gutless philosophy of never standing in opposition to anything.

Those who bite into the abandoned ask, “Why do you have to be against everything? Is that all you want to be known for? Being against stuff?” Schools of cultural relativists nibble away the backbone as Laodicean leaches suck away the strength of drowning Watchmen. With judgmental tones and a self-righteous sense of moral superiority they demand, “Quit standing against everything; stand for something!”

How are the above attacks judgmental in nature? They declare any attempts to defend righteousness as unrighteous, even un-Christlike. How are they harmful? Bit by bit, bite by bite they gnaw away at one’s resolve, one’s courage, and one’s determination to stand in opposition to the destructive flotsam beating against the foundations of society.

With the Flow

So, I have decided that it might be in everyone’s best interest to go with the flow and quit standing in public opposition to destructive ideologies and cultural perversions. Instead of standing against things, I will stand for things. The latter, of course, will appear less bigoted and more conducive to this culture of affirmation.

Theoretically, as I float along in the cultural current, instead of getting beat up by the wreckage of broken lives, I can point out the positives (cue the happy music), holding up anything worth saving above the waves.

The following, therefore, are what I would call the “pitch-covered baskets” (think baby Moses) worth saving from the crocodiles. In other words, instead of a “judgmental” and “negative” standing AGAINST, these are some things I am going to be standing FOR:

  • The rights of the unborn (I positively support pro-life initiatives).
  • Strengthening the traditional, nuclear family and heterosexual marriage.
  • Religious freedom and protection from government coercion.
  • Freedom of speech.

In addition, I will stand for…

  • Term limits and reduced salaries for Congress.
  • Major reductions in the size of our government.
  • The immediate revocation of citizenship and subsequent deportation of any American who wants to replace the U. S. Constitution with Sharia Law and/or makes threats against the people of the United States.

And I’m FOR a couple of other things, like…

  • Mandatory psychiatric evaluations for most Hollywood celebrities, especially former child stars who swing naked on demolition equipment, perform mournful songs about dead pet blowfish, and dress like stuffed animals.
  • Spray tan for everyone! Call it the “Dolezal Amendment.” One race and benefits for all!

Who Will?

Unfortunately, it really doesn’t matter whether we stand FOR or AGAINST something, too few are willing to make ANY kind of stand at all.

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.“ – Ezekiel 22:30

Those who DO decide to stand will need a “shark suit” from heaven (Ephesians 6:13).

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by | April 30, 2015 · 7:00 am

How Does It Hurt You?

The Argument

You have heard this argument before, but I want to phrase it several other ways, just to help clarify it.

  • Little Julio likes pulling little Emily’s ponytail at recess. How does that hurt you?
  • Greg and Henry each enjoy the sight of blood, along with the thrill of dismemberment. They aren’t planning on cutting off your index finger, so how does that hurt you?
  • Habib thinks it’s perfectly fine to beat his wife to a pulp when she disappoints him, and she believes he has every right to do so, because he’s her husband. Their marriage may not be healthy in your eyes, but they think it’s OK. The are happy and in love, so how does that hurt you?
  • Mary, Bob, Sue, Helen, and Marty all live in a communal relationship and want to marry each other, spend the rest of their lives with each other, and ultimately die together so at a predetermined time, so as not to leave one behind to grieve without the others. They love each other, have no children, and are all orphans with no debt to any creditors. What they want to do is mutually agreed upon out of love for each other, but you aren’t invited to the going away party. How does that hurt you?

The Answer

Honestly, in the most immediate of terms, I am not hurt by any of the above hypotheticals. Similarly, I am not hurt by the murder of a homeless man in Thailand, either. But just because it doesn’t hurt me doesn’t make it right. Of course, when it comes to whether or not same-sex marriage itself will hurt me is one thing; making it a Constitutional right and forcing me to go along with it is something totally different.

The justification for same-sex or multiple-partner marriage cannot be based on what is felt by others. A victim-less crime is still a crime, even if no one ever feels the effects.

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by | April 29, 2015 · 1:48 pm

My Predictions

I Listened

After listening to the arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States, I believe, unless God moves on the hearts of 5 of the Justices, same-sex marriage will become recognized as a Constitutional right. More Justices than not continually stressed that “marriage is a Constitutional right,” so why restrict it? One Justice – Kennedy, I believe – even suggested that not allowing a woman to marry a woman would be equal to “sexual discrimination.”

Supreme Court

Because I believe the SCOTUS will rule against the States, based on what I would call nothing more than a “fairness” bias, there will be substantial immediate and long-term consequences for our culture, especially for Christians.

Predictions

The following are only the predictions that first come to mind. I am confident this list will not be all-inclusive.

  • Vulgar celebrations will commence. The in-your-face LGBT crowd will celebrate with exuberant joy, much like what happened in the spirit world when Christ breathed his last breath on the cross. It will be demonic, like most gay-pride parades are.
  • Marriage will be devalued forever. When this ruling comes, marriage will never be the same, for the whole purpose behind this movement is not simply to gain access to marriage, but to destroy it.
  • Litigation will go through the roof. After this ruling comes, one that declares marriage a fundamental right to whomever, every form of relationship will claim equal status. And because of that, trial after trial will ensue until multiple partners, animals, and farm equipment enjoy the same “equal protection under the law.”
  • Pastors will become prime targets. As much as some want to say this won’t happen, I believe it totally will. As with Christian bakeries, photographers, and florists, pastors who refuse to marry gay couples will be accused – no, convicted – of everything from sexual discrimination to hate crimes. Because it will come to the point where a pastor must violate his beliefs or go to jail, he will be targeted by those who have always wanted him to suffer for his beliefs. I predict this with utter confidence.
  • Churches and Christian colleges and institutions will be forced to close. Let’s face it, this is one of the results many in the gay community are salivating over. When this ruling is passed, the next step will be to mandate that Churches and Christian colleges change their bylaws and guidelines or, at the least, lose their tax-exempt status. For many, this will force closure. For example, if my little church was forced to all of a sudden have to pay property tax on our sanctuary and gym and fellowship hall we would have to close the doors – we don’t bring in that much revenue. It will happen, believe me.

So, in a nutshell, those are a few of my predictions. However, the cultural ramifications are probably incalculable.

But on a positive note, God is still God, the Righteous Judge, and His law will stand long after Washington D.C. is dust.

Help us, dear God, to stand strong in love, but “having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13). 

Update: Below is a link to a Wednesday evening service at my church where I preached a message based on the above post.

Click on the picture to hear the sermon I preached.

Click on the picture to hear the sermon.

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by | April 28, 2015 · 9:21 am

Intercede for Marriage Today!

Today Is a Big Day. I thought you should know about it.

Folks, there are so many things going on in our country today, so many things that I cannot even begin to address them all. You know about what’s happening in Baltimore, don’t you? I hope so.

But do you know what is going on today in the Supreme Court? Oral arguments are being presented in a key case that will affect the whole nation and the definition of marriage.

I would seriously encourage you to look at the times below and pray accordingly.

(The following was copied from Pray4Marriage.org)

Courtroom Schedule – 4/28/15

On April 28th, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of marriage for the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

KEY QUESTIONS

There are two questions that will be considered by the Court. Ninety minutes is allotted to oral argument on question 1; 1 hour is allotted for oral argument on question 2.

  1. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
  2. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

KEY CASES

Obergefell v. Hodges (Ohio), 14-556
Tanco v. Haslam (TN), 14-562
DeBoer v. Snyder (MI), 14-571
Bourke v. Beshear (KY), 14-574

Read the Family Research Council’s Amicus Brief on all these cases

COURTROOM SCHEDULE

10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Mary Bonauto, well-known same-sex “marriage” lawyer who serves on the staff with GLAD.

10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Donald Verrilli, Jr., Solicitor General of the United States, will argue against God’s definition of marriage.

10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
John Bursch, former Michigan Solicitor General, will argue that states are not required to recognize same-sex “marriages.”

11:30 a.m. – Noon
Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, the attorney on record for one of the central cases and the only lead lawyer with an established Supreme Court practice, will argue that same-sex “marriages” must be recognized.

Noon – 12:30 p.m.
Joseph Whalen, Tennessee Associate Solicitor General, will argue for a state’s right to limit marriage to one woman and one man based upon a 2006 Tennessee referendum that passed by 81% of the vote.

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by | April 7, 2015 · 3:17 pm

I Didn’t Bake a Cake

“I Didn’t Bake a Cake”

I didn’t bake a cake.

Of course, it’s not like they didn’t take

All the other pastries I created,

Like the ones they bought when the couple dated.

I just didn’t bake a cake.

 

I didn’t bake a cake.

But if I was a thug and tried to make

A getaway, and then got shot,

I’d be a hero, alive or not.

But I just declined to bake a cake.

 

Because I didn’t bake a cake,

The death threats are more than we can take.

We’re losing everything; we hide in fear.

The reason for the terror made perfectly clear:

I didn’t bake a cake.

 

You’d thought I was an abuser!

You’d thought I was a buyer and user

Of drugs…or women and children.

But I wasn’t. Now I’m facing prison,

All because I didn’t bake a cake.

 

– Anthony Baker

 

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by | March 19, 2015 · 9:41 am

Pre-Salvation Counseling?

Pre-Marital Counseling

Have you ever given pre-marital advice? Have you ever sat down with a young couple, stars in their eyes, and tried to break them up? No? Then maybe you don’t know what real marriage counseling is all about.

Honestly, one of the things I try to do before I marry a couple is to break them up. OK, no, I don’t go into a counselling session with the intent on making them run out of the room crying and screaming at each other. But what I do try to do is bring to the surface issues that might cause problems down the road which will ultimately lead to major problems, even divorce. Believe me, a lot of people could have been spared a lot pain and heartache had they been asked some serious questions before they tied the knot.

So, if you want me to conduct your wedding, you must endure at least four hours of me trying to find out if you are aware of what’s ahead.

Salvation Counseling 

Much like the syrupy-sweet lovers who want to jump into marriage without even considering what comes after the honeymoon phase, many are led into believing that becoming a Christian is the answer to all their problems. Because of many one-stop, Vegas-like “wedding chapels” we call “worship centers,” scores of people have been drawn into a relationship with Jesus – but without the “pre-marital” counseling.

Reality check: Following Jesus will not be easy. As a matter of fact, it might even result in a life of pain and suffering, of hunger and want. This relationship may even cost you your life.

And when [Jesus] had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Oh, make no mistake about it, entering into an eternity-long relationship with Jesus is totally worth it! Just make sure you know what you’re getting into.

See the Movie

This Friday (March 20) Do You Believe? will come out in theaters. Please, take my advice, go see this movie! It may prove to be the best spiritual “marriage counseling” you’ve had in a while. Oh, and take someone with you who is lost; you won’t regret it.

 

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by | March 2, 2015 · 10:56 am

Honey Maid Fatalism?

Yesterday evening, just before I was about to head on over to the church, my wife saw a commercial on the television she had on while she was doing taxes for a client. She said, “Did you hear what that commercial just said?”

“No, what commercial?”

OK, before I go any further, before any of you get too judgmental, my wife is an accountant and this is income tax season – she barely has time for sleep and is doing tax work every available minute. Therefore, even up to 30 minutes before time to leave for evening services at church, my wife – the pastor’s wife – was still sitting in front of two computer screens and listening to a television for background noise. 

“There was a commercial from Honey Maid (they make graham crackers),” she said. “Here, I’ll just rewind it…watch this…”

Evidently this commercial is not new, but would anyone with any sense like to explain to me what I just watched? Does this not in any way concern any of you? What in the world does it mean when you say, “What makes us wholesome never will”?

Some of you (you know who you are) don’t understand why this commercial upsets me. After all, it’s only a reflection of the pagan, post-Christian culture in which we live, right? “It is what it is,” some might say, “so just move on.” But this commercial DOES anger me! As a matter of fact, it does more than anger me – in breaks my heart. Let me tell you why.

First, it condones divorce, even going so far as to making it a positive for the children involved. In the first few words we hear a father say how that he never thought he’s get a divorce, but now he sees it as just that many more people to love the kids. Really? That’s akin to stating, “Hey, divorce ain’t that bad, just look at how happy the kids are!”

Second, it promotes brokenness. Yes, I said it “promotes” it. Even though this commercial is linked to a larger advertising campaign, #NotBroken, that aspires to celebrate the diverse landscape of the modern family unit, it’s actually celebrating brokenness as an inherent virtue. There is nothing in this commercial that promotes wholeness, is there? There’s nothing in this commercial that calls for the support of intact, nuclear families, is there? No, only the celebration that families come in all shapes, sizes, colors, AND sexual orientations.

Third, it’s fatalistic and hopeless. The money quote from the commercial is, “What makes us wholesome never will.” In other words, whatever it was that we as a culture ever thought was normal and healthy, forget it – we will never be “wholesome,” for there is no such thing…except for Honey Maid crackers.

But, supposedly, this is our culture. Mondelez International senior marketing director Gary Osifchin said of their add campaign, “[W]e’re holding a mirror up to America and celebrating all-American families. We’re on a journey here where we are very much showing America who they are. … It’s reality.“[Source] Maybe so, but it’s not by God’s design.

We’ve given up on promoting nuclear families; now we’re celebrating the pieces left over from a nuclear blast, and supposedly the kids are happier for it.

 

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