Christians and homosexuals can get along

by Barrett Vanlandingham

March 4, 2014

            Whatever happened to the days when gays and straights could just co-exist, you know, before special interest groups, lawyers, judges, and legislatures decided they needed to make everything so complicated? 

            My dad ran a successful restaurant for 36 years.  He served people of all kinds, and hired and worked alongside people of all kinds.  To my knowledge, not a single employee ever pushed my dad to accept their sexual preferences under the threat of a lawsuit.  Not a single customer ever stormed in to divulge their personal business, and then just dare my dad to not serve them.  That is not the case these days.  Everyone thinks they have to tell everything about themselves to everyone. If someone’s conscience won’t let them agree, then it’s off to court! 

            In Oregon, a Christian couple recently had to shut down their bakery because their consciences would not allow them to bake a cake for a lesbian couple’s wedding.  The Christian couple faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

            Laws now even equate your sexual orientation (preference) with race!  Last I heard, you can’t change your race.  However, Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, was a self-professed lesbian until she married Bill 19 years ago.  They have two teenage children.      

            The odd thing about our nation right now is that some of the same people who are screaming for everyone to accept diversity are the same people who want there to be no differences among us.  Here is what I mean.  As of January 1, a new transgender law (Assembly Bill 1266) went into effect in California.  It allows K-12 students to enter bathrooms, locker rooms, and be involved in sports teams based on their perceived gender identity. 

            Can you imagine the problems this will cause when a straight teenage boy decides he wants to utilize the law to invade the privacy of a girls’ locker room, bathroom, or set new scoring records in girls’ sports?  What about little children who have always gone to public restrooms with their dad or mom, no matter what sex they are, but when they go to school for the first time, they get confused as to which bathroom they’re supposed to go to, but a teacher can no longer tell them which direction to go because the law says either way is fine, just whatever they feel like.  Boys’ or girls’ bathroom, whichever one you identify with more that day.

            I’ve read that a baby’s sex is determined at conception, even though birth defects like “undetermined genitalia” make it difficult to know the sex of a newborn before testing.  Our genes may be responsible for homosexual tendencies, obesity, alcoholism, and attitude problems.  But that does not mean these tendencies cannot be controlled.  We all have certain temptations that are more appealing to us than others.   But God would not create a person who has no choice but to willfully sin, and then send him to hell because he sinned.  Making mistakes is just part of being human.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).”    

            God knows our heart, and He knows the level at which we are committed to obeying Him.  That is what grace is for!  It covers us when we fail in our best attempts to obey God.

            And so, Christians need to employ the love of Christ when dealing with homosexuals or anyone.  We won’t always agree.  But for heaven’s sake, we don’t have to make life miserable for each other. That’s really all I would ask from anyone who disagrees with me. And yes, homosexuals are welcome at my church.  Have a great week!

Proof of Bible's Credibility Is Hard to Get Around

by Barrett Vanlandingham
February 25, 2014

            The recent debate between atheist Bill Nye “The Science Guy” and creationist Ken Ham is a very good reminder for Christians to know why we believe what we believe.

            The apostle Peter said it best nearly two-thousand years ago, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15),”

            I was surprised to hear Nye’s statement regarding the Genesis account of the flood, especially since he is known as “The Science Guy”.  He insists that the Biblical flood is not rooted in historical fact.  I find that to be strange considering the vast amounts of evidence in favor of a world-wide flood. 

            For starters, every major culture around the world has reported a world-wide flood.  Apologetics Press reports that most historians say there are at least 200 such legends.  And evolutionary geologist Robert Schoch puts the number of “flood myths” much higher at 500, and says they are “the most widespread of all ancient myths and therefore can be considered among the oldest.”

            More evidence for a world-wide flood comes from an abundance of trilobite fossils.  Trilobites were a small ocean dwelling arthropod creature.  They are thought to be extinct. Their fossils measure between a millimeter to a foot long.  They are segmented and resemble a roly poly or a big centipede.    Their fossils have been found on every continent on Earth.  They have been discovered in deserts, the Grand Canyon, and on mountaintops all over the world.  I wonder how an ocean creature could wind up in all these places, especially on mountaintops?  Hmm. 

            Science says that for something to be believable, you have to be able to measure it and repeat the experiment.  No one has ever witnessed or measured any evolution of one species becoming another.  In fact, there is no fossil evidence that one species or animal ever became a different species.  That is just one reason why evolution is not believable. 

            Even skeletal remains (supposed missing links or Neanderthals) have turned out to be either animal, OR human, OR manufactured hoaxes such as an orangutan jawbone attached to a human skull.  But none has proven to be a half man, half ape creature.  Those are facts the textbooks and museums probably don’t divulge.

            According to science’s own standards, the Big Bang Theory can’t even be true, since something cannot come from nothing. Therefore, something had to have always existed.  Obviously, a Christian believes that the “something” is God.

            As for the speed of light… we don’t know how fast it goes in deep space. In fact, recently, lab experiments have shown that the speed of light is NOT constant.  And thanks to the 1988 discovery of a WW2 plane buried under 250 feet of ice in Greenland, the freeze and thaw scientific measurements used to determine glacier age have melted!  Seems they didn’t take into consideration what Oklahomans already knew, that old man winter can snow and thaw multiple times in the same year.

            Bottom line, the Big Bang Theory and Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and the Bible’s account of creation each require faith.  It is true that by scientific measurements, the universe might be billions of years old.  But for me, I am going to side with the Bible’s account of creation, that it took six days to create everything fully mature, and that by the Bible’s timeline, about six-thousand years has passed since then.  Have a great week!

 

Most doubt the importance of church attendance

by Barrett Vanlandingham
February 18, 2014

            Hebrews 10:24-27 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”

            51-percent of people in America don’t think it’s important to attend church.  40-percent of Americans have not attended any church function in the last six months.  That number is up from 33-percent just ten years ago (May 2013 Barna Group survey of 1086 adults over age 18).

            According to the Hebrew writer, this is not a new problem.  As human beings, Christians have always struggled with being faithful to Christ and the institution He died for (Eph 5:25).

            We all know that people are going to find acceptance somewhere.  If it’s not with a church family, it is often with groups or individuals that are not necessarily thinking about the soul.  In fact, the marginalized of society who feel rejected by the mainstream are often targeted by individuals or groups that only want to use them for what they can get out of them. Acceptance is offered, but it often comes at a higher price than the seeker ever knew they would be expected to pay.  The church is to be Jesus to everyone, especially the outcasts.

            The survey also says that 59-percent of 18-29 year olds with a Christian upbringing have either dropped out of church temporarily or altogether.

            When that same group, the millennial generation, was asked the question, “What made your faith grow?”  Church did not even make the top ten.   The top spot was 1) prayer,  2) Family or friends, 3) Reading the Bible, 4) Having children, 5) Relationship with Jesus, 6) Death or illness of a loved one, 7) My own beliefs, 8) Marriage or significant other, 9) God provided during hard times, 10) I have not grown spiritually.

            So what can Christians (who make up the church) do to slow the trend of church unpopularity?  After all, if people (churched or unchurched) want to hear a good sermon or lesson, they can go online and listen to whomever they please.  If they want socialization, they can visit with people through electronic media using Facebook or online video gaming groups.

            There are some things that can only be experienced by face to face human interaction.  The early church came together on the first day of the week to remember the Lord’s death while eating the unleavened bread and drinking the fruit of the vine representing the body and the blood (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 11:17-26).  Imagine the stories they exchanged!  They also sang, prayed to God for one another, studied the Bible with each other, and gave of their income for the work of the church.  It was a deliberate, not accidental, effort to make a difference.  All of this, with persecution looming around every corner.

            Paul told the church to “Greet one another with a holy kiss (Rom 16:16).”  You see, when we stop approaching church only from a worship checklist standpoint, and start allowing Jesus to change who we are at the very core of our being, we will see everything in life, including our daily purpose, much differently.  Only then, will people’s opinion of the church change, and the trend of disinterest turn around.  Have a great week!

Marriage God’s way is honorable

by Barrett Vanlandingham
February 11, 2014

            This spring, I will be conducting a wedding ceremony for my niece, Julia and her fiancé Kyle.  So, I had been thinking about what I would say to this young man and young lady.  Then, lo and behold, as I was cleaning out a cabinet in my office, I came across the outline of an old sermon a preacher friend of mine delivered titled “Marriage Is Honorable.”  What timing!  And just in time for Valentine’s Day.  You talk about providence!

            Even though the sermon was nearly 20 years old, the Biblical truths expressed in it are timeless!  So, I thought I would pass along these three points to my readers, especially since many in our society no longer hold marriage as being sacred or honorable.

            1) Marriage is a divine institution, a gift from God, and is for our good. Genesis 2:18-24 leaves no doubt as to what God had in mind for the covenant of marriage.  “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”  It goes on to say that “God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.  The man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

            2)  Marriage means commitment.  It is an accepting covenant, meaning, we all have faults (Romans 3:23), and it sometimes takes a little work to get past the idea that your spouse can be absolutely perfect all the time.  The Old and New Testaments teach that we are to honor marriage as an exclusive commitment (Exodus 20:14, Matthew 5:28), and that both physical adultery and emotional adultery are sin.

            3) Marriage means permanence.  Remember? For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part?  That is not a Bible quote, but it is rooted and supported in God’s word.  Paul told the church in Rome that marriage is a lifetime commitment (Romans 7:2). The Old Testament says that God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16).  In the New Testament Jesus also speaks strongly against it in Matthew 19:4-9, and goes as far as saying that “anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.” 

            Paul told the church in Ephesus that wives should submit to their husbands in everything, AND that husbands should love their wives, “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:22-25).”

            The covenant of marriage, as described in the Bible, should be honored by all (Hebrews 13:4).  Yes, a successful marriage must be built on an undying, selfless, and sacrificial love between a man and woman.  But both must also build their marriage on the foundation of Jesus Christ, placing Him as the highest priority in their lives.  Only then will everything else fall into place, and the husband and wife will experience joy and a marriage covenant as God intended, with both looking out for the best interests of the other and looking to God in all things.   Have a great week!