Like a Rebel
Though I’ve tried to harmonize
these different thoughts, I’ve realized
that I’m lost between two paths too far,
and no matter what, I’m paralyzed.
I’ve been adopted to your family,
yet I look around and still I see
forgotten people and more mysteries
and my hands fly up to cover my eyes.
And I remember you, for what you did, and for what you paid
But like a rebel I still turn away.
Oh why do I always feel this way?
Oh why do I always feel this way?
Why can’t I just believe in you?
I put all my faith on the table, on you,
but all I hear are the crickets’ cries,
and whatever I do, it still hurts inside.
Somehow I know you’re by my side,
and I always know that you’re on my mind.
But can’t you please open up to me,
so I still know that you believe in me?
And I remember you, for what you did, and for what you paid
But like a rebel I still turn away.
Oh why do I always feel this way?
Oh why do I always feel this way?
Oh why do I always feel this way?
Oh why do I always feel this way?
Lost
With the only choice to throw your queen to save the king, is it cowardice to forfeit and save both?
Fork
Neither was ever a choice, yet to identify in one is to ignore the other.
I wish you’d take my hand and take me away from all of this.
You know that we’d be so happy together, but you don’t know that I believe so too.
I can’t believe you’re just letting me sit here and stew anger and resentment towards you.
Yet to fix it all it would just take a few simple words or a sign that you still believe in me.
I get this feeling that you’re not even there, and you’re just ignoring my prayers of anguish.
Yes, I think I still trust in you for now, but if I’m to try avoid losing you, why can’t you make a better case for yourself?
Come on, Paul, give me a break.
Processes
A heart stripped of love is just there to pump blood. A soul barren of God wants to be more than worthless. A body that lost its purpose is simply another drone. A mind at war with itself wishes to cease everything.
Can’t remember what was that driving force behind each footstep I need to take each day.
The Race
I’m still wrapping my head around the rules of the race.
Having been in a race for nearly my whole life, I never
actually understood there was a purpose behind the
very long and narrow track that
everyone around me seemed to be following.
Never was I so joyful when I found out the true purpose.
Obviously content, I continued to run the race with my friends.
Heaven forbid I should realize what advantages given to
others were given as blessings, while only the severest
penalty of absolute disqualification from the race lasts in sniper sight should I
even imagine receiving that same blessing, which to them, would be heinous.
———
Ultimately, it is my human nature to try to blame somebody for the
nuance of my ability to partake in the race. But whose
fault is it, really? If it was true that it was His will to give others this
advantage and strip me of it, then it would be His fault. But whose
idea of fairness is it? If it’s really His ordination of what’s truly
right and what’s truly wrong, why does it feel so unfair and unjust?
Lalala
| % | |
|---|---|
| Openness | 78% |
| Conscientiousness | 61% |
| Extraversion | 40% |
| Agreeableness | 63% |
| Neuroticism | 66% |
Speaking of the Centrality of the Gospel
This might be an interesting read:
http://www.preachingtoday.com/skills/article_print.html?id=59945
The Christian Response to Homosexuality
Controversy spreads like fire around a topic like sexuality; legislation from so many governments are trying to either criminalize homosexuality, as in Uganda, or legalize gay marriage, like in several states in the past year. It is no wonder why Christians (as well as many other Old and New Testament religions) are found in the arena that is politics so much — “core family values” doesn’t really cut it if you’re trying to pass a huge bill (we could clearly see the effects of both sides’ efforts in California’s 2008 Prop 8 voting, with around 52% in favor against 48%).What is a “good” Christian supposed to do in this situation? Social norms (at least in California) dictate that one should be tolerant and nonjudgmental of others’ business. Biblical passages clearly indicate that homosexuality is a sin. How are Christians supposed to respond, when both sides are faux pas?
Many Christians and gays alike have been trying to cope with this sever cognitive dissonance by adopting one of the following beliefs on Biblical sexuality:
- Homosexuality is a sin. Sexual orientation can be changed. Therefore, homosexuals are wrong because they will not change their sinful lifestyle. (Fundamentalist view, Side X)
- Homosexuality is not a sin, and is acceptable. The changeability of sexual orientation does not matter. The Bible was mistranslated to have the word “homosexual” or the Bible’s teachings on sexuality are no longer relevant by today’s standards. (Liberal view, Side A)
- Homosexuality is a sin. Sexual orientation cannot be changed. Those who identify as homosexual should remain celibate. (Moderate view, Side B)
Of course, it is highly impossible that one of these arguments could be so compelling that all Christian churches follow that one new doctrine of sexuality. Unfortunately, in the near future chasms between different denominations of churches will appear, with the doctrine of sexuality as yet another dividing factor.
Because of the numerous passages in the Bible about sexuality, let’s assume homosexuality is a sin (though I think only the verses in the New Testament are anything close to relevant, but I’ll save that rant for later). “Homosexuality is a sin” is an extremely broad statement, so I will try my best to centralize it.
Firstly, I’ll give a short analysis of what Romans 1:25-27 says about homosexuality so that a firmer definition of it can be used.
25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Rom 1:25-27 (NIV, emphasis added)
I will define homosexuality as having sexual attraction, or lust, towards people of the same gender. From the verse, it is states that “God gave them over to shameful lusts,” (v26) meaning that the immediate consequence that God gave to people was to ignore their passions — God didn’t slap them in the face and say “stop having gay sex.” Instead, the punishment was to let them continue and to allow their hearts become hardened to sin (Rom 1:18) (extremely dangerous, and unfortunately the reason why it is so controversial). Although this implies that being a homosexual is a consequence of some other sin, I think that like our fallen state upon conception (Ps 51:5), homosexuality is simply a consequence of our (prior) state of sin and misery (WSC 17).
Though, if it is indeed a consequence of a prior state of sin and misery, then the death of Jesus and the repentance of a newborn Christian should, in a way, “pray away the gay.” However, countless stories of ex-gay camp survivors and failed conferences to turn people straight (Google: ex-gay) are clearly evidence in favor of my next point:
Sexual orientation cannot be changed, which is God’s choice of sovereignty. Paul writes to the church in Corinth:
7bThere was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:7b-9
Like Paul’s thorn (it was probably a physical illness, historians have hypothesized), sexuality is something that is part of our human bodies, and God will not change that for us; He’s already given us His grace on the cross. In other words, it’s not something that God will heal or fix if we ask Him enough (like cancer, or AIDS, or any other disease that has no perfect cure), but the thorn of homosexuality will make a gay Christian realize even more and more often just how much Jesus paid on the cross to help our utterly helpless condition before a perfectly holy God (Misty Irons, “Calvinists, Pelagians, and Homosexuality”).
With those two points in hand: homosexuality is a sin, and sexual orientation cannot be changed, I find that the response to homosexuality (and other sins) that many Christians adopt, “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” is quite ridiculous. It may work for committable sins, such as stealing or lying, but if one goes through life with the idea that sinners are people who commit sins, it is hard to depart from the thought that it is the sins we do that make us sinners. It is no longer about original sin that we’re born with; how can you apply that cliche line to babies, who are by default sinners, yet have not necessarily committed any sins? It is no longer about the heart behind doing good works, but about the magnitude of the outward appearance of good works. It is no longer about how sinful we are being when we have lustful thoughts, committing adultery every glance we take, but rather how well one keeps those thoughts to him or herself.
That type of response, to “love the sinner, hate the sin,” that forces Christians to deny that we were born into this world imperfect, is non-Christian and unbiblical. It encourages deceit and lying amongst Christians, trying to elicit a response of deadly pride: those who wish to have the so-called “unconditional” love of their brothers and sisters in Christ must first work to attain that love by hiding their sin. It tells Christians that they can, in their own power, overturn sins and become holy on their own.
However, this cliche’s deadliness only begins with these committable sins. If applied to homosexuality, in which a sin is not committed, rather the sin is a part of the body (as an ongoing, lifelong attraction to the same gender), a Christian using that cultish mantra to “love the sinner, hate the sin” cannot differentiate between what is the sinner, and what is the sin. And instead of defaulting to simply the “love” part, as Jesus commanded us to do, the Christian then reverts to hating the sin. Coupled with not knowing exactly what the sin is, and how it is part of the sinner, the hating the sin paves a road for the Christian to begin hating the gay person, and driving him or her away from the gospel.
Instead of “love the sinner, hate the sin,” what should we, as Christians, use to reconcile with homosexuals? Though I don’t exactly have the evidence to support it, I am leaning towards the Side B approach, to encourage celibacy among gay people. The only problem with this approach is that it strips away the possibility a gay person would have of a “happy” life: a monogamous (gay) marriage, embracing one’s inner self, living out loud, etc. (they already are stripped of having kids and becoming grandparents, which sucks). I can only imagine how jealous a gay person would feel when his or her straight friends get married, have kids, and become grandparents. It takes “count your blessings” to a whole new level for straight people.
But if a gay person does manage to get past all of that and finds him or herself enamored with Christ, I can also only imagine how much that life would glorify God, through reliance on Him. It’s no doubt to me that God’s power to save gay people is truly made perfect because of their condition. Now if we could erase the stigma that Side X has been garnering for centuries, we could finally start sharing the good news with them.
Thorn in my Side
…there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7c-9
