why do all you people care so much about homosexual marrige? whoever wrote the bible didn't seem to care since He/she only writes a few lines concerning homosexuality, so you shouldn't care either. what are you so afraid of? homosexuality has been linked to genes which meens its involuntary and therefor not sinful.

terrorism, islam and homosexuality are our smallest threats. we should be concerned about much bigger issues like poverty and hunger and disiese, and war, and education.

The one true God's Word is absolute truth and wholly inerrant. Worldly compromise only results in a god created in man's image, capitulating to men's sinful desires - which is nothing more than worshipping a lie, an idol and leads only to damnation.

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life and NO man comes to the Father, but by me."
The way is narrow and few there are that find it. Repent that you might have life.

Luke 9:5 NLT
"If the people of the village won't receive your message when you enter it, shake off its dust from your feet as you leave. It is a sign that you have abandoned that village to its fate."

Yes I am a jew,

Sure offering women to be raped is a sin, the Bible does not say it isn't, God didn't say, "Lot, becuase you have offered your daughters up you are a good man"

And you have imposed an arbitrary rule saying that "unless they are not related" that is arbitrary and means nothing. Why is being related pertinent? What reasons do you have? You can't say "Being married to a relative is wrong because being married to a relative is wrong" any more than I can say, "Homsexuality is wrong because Homosexuality is wrong"

Shequon,

"what you suggest is very biblical! Lot and his daughters did what they had to do to carry on the family line, and Lot is a major hero in the book of Genesis."

When did I suggest misinterpreting the Bible? They were clearly engaged in sin, many heroes were engaged in sin, David committed adultery, we do not say "Adultery is good!!!!" Besides Lot was fooled into it. His offspring also became two tribes that caused a great deal of evil towards Israel also. Please, if you are going to quote the Bible, do so responsibly.

Very well. Would you prefer that I stipulated that the happiness of two people finding love together is a blessing provided that those individuals are not directly related? Anyway, while on the issue of moral relativisim and Lot, are we forgetting that he offered his daughters up to a mob of sex crazed men to be raped senseless? Sure it was in the interest of hospitality but whatever you call it I condemn that far more than two individuals of the same sex in a committed loving relationship.

Actually, Chris, what you suggest is very biblical! Lot and his daughters did what they had to do to carry on the family line, and Lot is a major hero in the book of Genesis.

Yes I am a Jew,

What about happily married father and daughter (of legal marrying age)? Why should they not be allowed to be married? Wouldn't it be great if they were just happy! (If you are worried about genetic defects, they can get sterilized, I mean gays can't have children either). They could even adopt their own children, and maybe get married to them too, as long as everyone is happy, because as you are clearly implying happiness is the ULTIMATE STANDARD OF EVERYTHING!

Moral relativism disgusts me.

Can't say that I took the time to read to read all of the comments. Needless to say, I can't imagine that anyone here is actually agreeing that homosexuality is a greater threat than terrorism. If so then all of my earlier comments about religious zealots being linked to low intelligence and a lack of the ability to reason must be true. We have much bigger issues in this nation to worry about than homosexual relationships. The fact is that heterosexual marriages have a horrible record in this country, with divorce being more and more frequent. That any two people can love each other and remain happily in a relationship is a blessing, be it two men, two women or one of each. And to cut off the inevitable response by BigTex and those like him, just because you were molested in your youth doesn't make all homosexuals evil, just as it doesn't make all priests gay and/or evil.

From bigtex's commetns below, we can see that it is possible to perhaps know the bible , and not know of God's love at all. And it is possible to be "Christian," yet exemplify exactly the opposite of Christian love. The kingdom of God has no room for such blatant misusers of scripture, as Sally Kern will someday find out if she continues on her path, as did Falwell.

Using the logic that a person is accepted by God because they are in a "loving homosexual relationship" is rediculous. The Bible does not speak against a "loviing homosexual relationship" because that kind of relationship does not exist. Love is of God and those who love are of God. A homosexual may be a nice person, a great guy and be religious, but if he continues to defy God's mandate of living a life of purity and does not attempt to line his life up with the demands of God's word, then one is led to the conclusion that the homosexual man is lost and does not know God. (This can be said of a bank robber, a child molester, a drunk and any other person who is not presenting their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

homosexual relationships of all forms are sin because homosexuality of any kind is classified as SEXUAL IMMORALITY. Regardless of whether or not a person is involved in a "loving homosexual relationship" or not is irrelivant to the definition of sin (Missing the Mark). The homosexual relationship misses the mark (sins) in that it is not designed and approved by God.

READ the Bible, "Homosexuals, adulters, pedofiles, perverts, rapist, and any other person actively engaged in a pattern of willful sexual immoralty will not enter the Kingdom of God" The reason is that person has not been "born again." How do we know this? Their fruits of their life make it evident to all.

Let me make this really easy for you Quecat. Here's the issue (actually there are two):

Quecat's presumposition: ALL homosexual behavior is sinful.

Here's what I believe the Bible says: Some homosexual behavior is sinful but only in the context that heterosxual behavior is also sinful. Loving committed homosexual relationships are not sinful.

The secondary issue is that the Bible is not to be taken literally - as it cannot be taken literally.

So in other words, Quecat, the bible contradicts itself. What I see in one passage may not be true in another. That's what we've been saying all along. It is impossible to take every single passage literally and say it's all "God's word." If you don't see that, then you're the one who's "hard-hearted and stiff-necked."

ifeelfine:

What about this do you not get? Am trying to walk you through this step by step - but every time it looks like we're making progress, you step back and reiterate your old fleshly belief that works somehow have a part in your salvation!

Let me spell this out:
We are saved by grace through faith.
Even our faith is a gift of God - so we can't boast about it.
Our faith is what?.. that Christ died on the cross for ALL of our sins - done- paid for.
Once we embrace and believe in the salvation He has provided, it's only a matter of us recognizing Him as Lord. Not some casual "yeah, you're Lord" - but LORD in every sense of the word. You are bought with a price. You now answer to Him for everything that you do. You should take your daily marching orders from your Lord.
Our love and gratitude towards our Savior leads us to want to please Him and that means obeying Him, bringing honor and glory to His name.
In the same way a child wishes to be pleasing to their parent (although our human-to-human relationships can only be a shadow of what a man-to-God relationship was designed to be)
When your child misbehaves, there is a reckoning for the misdeed. The child is still the child of the parent and is still loved. But that misdeed has created a rift in their relationship. The joy and sweet fellowship has been broken until such time and the child recognizes their error and is forgiven.
It is the same with your Father in heaven. If you truly love Him - you will want to walk in His ways - not out debt to a "law", but out of genuine love and respect and a wish to please Him.

Grace is the overarching theme here - but it does not mean that you can go on walking in error without being called to account for it. Doing so grieves the Father, yes - but it is more damaging to you. To continue walking in sin, separates you from God and hardens your heart towards the things of God.
Do you realize that if you continue to harbor sin in your heart that God won't even hear your prayers??

Psa 66:18-19 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer."
Jhn 9:31 "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and DOETH HIS WILL, him he heareth."

We have ultimate freedom in Christ - but not so that we may squander our lives and resources in evil - but rather that we may please the Lord our God who sacrificed so much to bring us back into fellowship with Himself.

Oh this hard-hearted and stiff-necked generation!!

Nowire - you evidently overlooked 1 Corinthians 7:21
"Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you–although if you can gain your freedom, do so."

When the bible says "Slaves, obey your masters," it clearly means that to liberate oneself would be against God's word. The parts about killing non-believers and disobedient children were also written in such a way that they are not optional.

Quecat - I told you before - you can't have it both ways. We are either under the law or we're not. Now you're saying we are. Which is it? If we are, then the Bible implicitly endorses slavery - if not, why the concern at all?

Can you define a sin? I like the simple definition - anything that separates us from God. It could be as simple as watching a violent movie at the theatre or as gruesome as stealing thousands of dollars out of people's retirement accounts. That is why we are no longer under OT law. The passages that talk about homosexuality in the NT all have one thing in common - lust. Lust is sinful - homosexual lust or heterosexual lust. However, a loving committed gay relationship is not sinful, is not mentioned in the Bible and should be accepted.

Seedplanter - those sins all have victims. Heterosexual lust and homosexual lust also have victims. Loving gay relationships have no victims and incorporate the summation of the law.

John MacArthur's "Drawing Near" devotion for today seemed particularly timely:
"Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10).
Many people who think they're kingdom citizens will someday be shocked to discover they aren't. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but HE WHO DOES THE WILL of My Father who is in heaven." Some people think highly of the kingdom but never receive the King. They call Jesus "Lord" but don't do His will. Lip service won't do. You must receive the King and His kingdom (John 1:12)...

...you must continually pursue the kingdom. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." In context He was discussing the basic necessities of life such as food and clothing, reminding His disciples that their Heavenly Father knew their needs and would supply them if they simply maintained the proper priorities. Unbelievers characteristically worry about meeting their own needs (v. 32), but believers are to be characterized by trusting in God and pursuing His kingdom.

Christ offers His kingdom to everyone (Matt. 28:19). The only acceptable response is to receive it, value it, and pursue it. Is that your response? Have you received the kingdom? Is it precious to you? I trust it is. If so, rejoice and serve your King well today. Make His kingdom your top priority. If not, turn from your sin and submit your life to Christ, who loves you and longs to receive you into His eternal kingdom."

AMEN!

http://www.gty.org/Resources/DailyDevotion

ifeelfine,

RE: being a Christian - then there is reason to rejoice!
Now, that having been established - You say that you love the Lord, the next question then is do you obey Him?

Those that love the Lord will obey Him and demonstrate their love by their obedience:

Jesus said in Jhn 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
John 14:21 " Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal myself to each one of them." John 14:24 "Anyone who doesn't love me will not do what I say. And remember, my words are not my own. This message is from the Father who sent me."

Acts 5:32 "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."

2Th 3:14 "...if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count [him] not as an enemy, but admonish [him] as a brother."

seed "Cit, in addition to my prior example, I also know a woman who became ensnared in lesbianism with a friend of hers in conclusion to a tragic divorce incurring from a dominating husband. She obviously was seeking a genuine love relationship My point here is that once again this is no sign of genetic predisposition"

I am sure there are some folks that "experiment" with homosexuality that are perhaps not driven by genetics. To say your friend "is no sign of genetic predisposition", how do you know this? She might have always had a tendency towards homosexuality, even when married to a man.

"But even if you did postulate such a scenario, it does not imply that such activity is beneficial or permissible."

Exactly part of my argument I think. Why would someone choose to be gay with all the hardships and pain that it brings to them- there are no real benefits - they are not gay by choice, although I would say there are probably exceptions as there are for most things.

There are no benefits to being genetically predisposed to terrible diseases such as heart disease and cancer, but yet they exist.