The Great Rainbow Controversy

I really find it ironic that the symbol that is currently used to show support for gay rights, is the very same symbol that God Almighty created in the sky as a reminder that He wouldn't allow the flood waters to cover the Earth again to rid it of sin. (Genesis 9:12-16)
Imagine, homosexuality was one of the rampant sins around the time of Noah and here we are now, having similar discussions about how to go about it.

As many of you know, the issue of gay marriage has come around in the news yet again. Most notably, in the Miss USA pageant.

I actually missed this, but I heard all about it the next day. I'm sure that this won't go away for a while. Let me summarize, Miss California Carrie Prejean was asked a question by Perez Hilton. For those who don't know who he is, he's a well known gay Hollywood insider. He asked Miss California her take on gay marriage, citing recent state laws accepting the practice as his base. She seemed to stumble, then she apparently spoke from her heart.
Her response was "marriage should be between a man and a woman." The response illicited some boos from the crowd, the scorn of Hilton on his blogs and maybe even cost her the crown. Miss North Carolina ended up winning the pageant.
Miss Prejean claims to be a Christian and defended her answer after the dust settled. I watched her say that she will pray for Hilton, even though he called her a number of vile names on TV and on the internet. It seems that she gave the current unpopular answer.
For the record, I'm proud of her for speaking her heart and not what cave into the pressure of winning a pageant. Her story is currently overshadowing the actual winner. In way, this public spat is a microcosm of the whole gay marriage issue in this nation as a whole.

Just this past week, New York's governor propose his own legislation for the approval of gay marriage. Advocates rejoiced because this is the first time in a very long time that the Governor, the Senate and the Assembly are democratic giving the proposal a good chance of passing and becoming state law.

For the second time in a month, the Lord woke me up out of my sound sleep and had me go into another room to pray in private. This issue is apparently something that He deems important and therefore it is important to me.

But what does the Lord have to say about homosexuality? Critics claim that because God is love, having two people love eachother, regardless of sexual orientation, is acceptable in His eyes. They couldn't be farther from the truth.

Yes, God is love. (I John 4:16) But He is also a just, jealous and vengeful God. (Isaiah 45:21; Exodus 34:14; Romans 12:19)

Let's examine a few passages in the Old Testament concerning homosexuality. Keep in mind, that was the Old Covenant. Jesus brought the New Covenant, which I'll explain later.

First we see how things were in Noah's day. God had no choice but to allow the flood waters come and wipe out the sinful people, save for Noah and his family, and of course the paired animals (female and male so they could repopulate, by the way.) God vowed never to allow that to happen again. (Genesis 9)

Not too long after that Abraham's brother Lot, who lived in Sodom, was greeted by two angels. They came from God to test the city and also to warn Lot of the impending judgement against Sodom and Gomorrah. Before they could deliver their message the two angels were met by the men of the town.
"...all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." (Genesis 19:4-5 NIV)
Lot's family was evacuated and fire rained down from heaven because the sin was so great. Sodom and Gomorrah was wiped from existence.

The laws in the book of Leviticus also addresses homosexuality. "'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. " (Leviticus 20:13 NIV) The passage is layed out even more clearly in The Message: "If a man has sex with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is abhorrent. They must be put to death; they are responsible for their own deaths."

Pretty clear eh? As I said that was all under the Old Covenant. What does that mean? It means that the principles are the same, but the punishment was paid once and for all. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for the sins of the world, so we don't have to. He shed His Holy blood, and in doing so created the New Covenant (1 Corinthians 11:25) that would trump the Old Covenant. All of our sins were taken to the grave with His death, and were wiped away upon His resurrection, PRAISE GOD!

Does that mean that because Jesus paid the price, gays can still marry and be right with God? NOPE! But that goes for ALL sin.

The New Testament speaks about it, even after Jesus' perfect sacrifice. "Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God." (I Corinthians 6:9-10 New Living Translation)

The book of Romans, concerning Christians sinning says this: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!" (Romans 6:1-2) It goes on to remind us that we are DEAD to sin and no longer its slave.

Bottom line: Gay marriage is NOT OKAY with God! It is a sin and sin, by definition, is separation from God. Therefore it isn't something that we would want to be caught in when the Lord returns.

Marriage by definition, is the union consecrated by God between a MAN and a WOMAN. There isn't a gray area when it comes to this. Popular culture would have you believe otherwise, but just like Jesus, truth never is popular.

So people of God, we are being called to be the light shining in the darkness. We are the beacons that God has left behind to light the path back to Him. We need to pray! Pray for our lawmakers, that they hear the Lord's voice and obey it. And we need to pray for the people caught up in homosexuality. Pray that Jesus comes across their path and that they turn from their wicked ways.
Pray that we would be ready at all times to give testimony for Christ, just as Miss California did on an international stage in the face of fierce criticism.

We, like Jesus, should love the sinner but hate the sin. Again, that goes for every sin.

As I said earlier, God is just. At some point, His wrath will be released and when it does, there will be no pleading or excuses. Judgement Day will be here, and the wages of sin will be dealt with once and for all.