Whatever My Lot

In 1870 Horatio G. Spafford’s four-year-old only son died from scarlet fever. One year later many of the properties he owned were destroyed in the horrible fire that burned most of downtown Chicago. Then two years later, in 1873, Horatio G. Spafford, lost all four of his daughters in a terrible at sea accident in the Atlantic Ocean. Only his wife survived the accident. When he sailed from the United States to be with his wife in England, the captain of the ship told him when they were at the exact location of the accident that claimed the lives of his four daughters. He went to his room and penned the words that has become one of the all-time great hymns of the faith called: It is Well With My Soul. The first stanza says:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

In all four of the Gospels, in their accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ it says that the guards cast lots to determine who would get the inner garment of Jesus. John 19:24 tells us that this was in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of Psalm 22:18.

In Luke 1:9 the Bible says that it was the custom of the Jewish priests to cast lots to determine who would enter the Holy Place to perform the priestly duties.

In Acts 1:26 the Bible records that there were two men that the Apostles were considering to replace Judas as one of the 12 Apostles. After praying for the Lord to determine which one He would choose, they cast a lot and Matthias was the one chosen.

To cast lots would have been similar to the present day of playing Rock, Paper, Scissors or drawing sticks where one stick’s length is shorter than the rest (thus the saying, “he got the short end of the stick”) or rolling the dice to determine a winner or flipping a coin for heads or tails. It was not a gamble of resources with a wish for a return on those resources. It was a recognition that when faced with a decision or a direction in life and there is an equality in the choices, God controls the outcome even through something we would call chance.

In the Biblical structure there was a belief that God, in His absolute Sovereignty, would cause the results of the decision-making process. People may cast lots but God Himself would determine the outcome. What would now be viewed as a method of chance was then based on the absolute truth that God is intimately in control of the outcome.

This is what Horacio Spafford meant when he penned the words: “Whatever my lot.” Things in life that seem random, fate, chance, luck, or destiny, good or bad, are in fact lots in life that Sovereign God is in complete control of and those lots have divine purpose. We live life with an absolute belief that whatever my lot in life, God is sovereignly working out His purpose in me, for me, and through me. To believe this is to live by a faith that brings about a fortitude to trust God and His character in everything that comes my way. It is an unshakable conviction and trust that Almighty God is intimately orchestrating my life. Whether that lot produces peace or sorrow, God is at work. It is easier, when going through something that brings a sense of tranquility or happiness, to say it is well with my soul. While going through things in life that produce grief or sadness, to say it is well with my soul is challenging. To say “it is well with my soul” does not just mean the assurance of salvation. It is a declaration of faith built on the bedrock foundation of truth and trust that comes from knowing God, His workings, and His immutable nature.

It is this absolute assurance, faith, and trust that prepared Job for the worse day of his life. God had blessed Job with an impeccable reputation, great wealth, livestock (11,000), many servants, and 10 children (7 sons, 3 daughters). Then one day the reports came to him consecutively, before one report finished another started. Within minutes Job learned that he had lost everything: all his livestock stolen or dead, all his servants dead, and all his children dead. Some of these losses were at the hands of his enemies, while others were unusual natural disasters. Yet, even in his enormous grief, Job worshipped the Lord and said (Job 1:21-22):

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Basically, what Job was saying was, “Whatever my lot.” He says, “whatever I have received was given by the LORD and whatever has been removed was taken away by the LORD.” With that foundational belief, Job could say in every circumstance of life, “Blessed be the name of the LORD,” or “It is well with my soul.” With the absolute truth that Sovereign God is intimately involved in my life and when sorrow comes my way, when bad things happen, when life is not fair, when heartache is beyond measure, when all is lost, and grief is great, I still can bless the LORD and NOT blame Him. With absolute assurance we can know that God’s character is such that He is too good to do anything bad, He is too righteous to do anything wrong, He is too full of love, to do anything out of cruelty. His lovingkindness is good in nature, great in abundance, and everlasting in time. He is a God of compassion, mercy, and grace. His mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

In America’s Christian culture there are people who bless the Lord when something good happens but blames the Lord or Satan when something bad happens. This is very poor theology. While it is true that “the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) It is also true that Jesus said to Peter, “Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.” (Luke 22:31) As Job tells us, Satan is powerless unless he is given permission from the Lord. Although Satan is the deceiver who is out for destruction, nothing happens in life that is not from the permissive will of God. Paul said. “there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (2 Corinthians 12:7) He learned God’s divine purpose through that thorn was, “My [Jesus’] grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (12:9)

So, whatever our lot in life was given or has been taken away by the Lord. And the Lord has divine purpose in everything He does. When we blame God for things in life we speak “words without knowledge.” (Job 38:2) To blame God when something bad happens comes from pride. We think we know all there is to know about what has happened and in our infinite knowledge (sarcasm) we blame God. There is only one who is omniscient, and He is the Lord. When we don’t understand why something bad has happened, we can trust the Lord, His omniscience, and His wisdom to know what is best. If we take credit for something good that happens in life, we are, also, being prideful. For it is God who gives, and it is God who takes away. “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

A testimony: When I was a child, I had what has since been identified as dyslexia; a neurological learning disability where the brain development has short-circuited in a way that jumbles up letters which makes it very difficult to process language when reading and writing. I especially remember in the third and fourth grade my mother would verbally quiz me every week to prepare me for my spelling test that came every Friday. It was a struggle but by Friday of every week, I could verbally spell every word she would quiz me on. She would say the word out loud, and I would spell it out loud. Yet, when I would get to the classroom and take out a blank sheet of paper, the teacher would say the word out loud, and we were supposed to spell it out on paper. Every word (and I mean every single word) would be misspelled on my paper. All the letters on the page would be jumbled up and make no sense. Remember, back then there was nothing known about what would cause this and I was labeled as a poor student with a learning disability, not paying attention, stupid, or just defiant.

Reading wasn’t any better. My fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Williams, would take me home with her after school, of course with my parents’ permission, and she would work with me on reading. By the end of my fourth-grade year I could just barely read the book that most learned to read in the first grade if not before; See Spot Run. The first spanking I got in school (definitely not the last) was in the third grade because I would never know where we were in the reading book when it came my turn to read out loud and I could barely read it even when I was told where I was supposed to start reading. The teacher thought I was just not paying attention and discipline was the way to correct that. Rather than blame the education system for those spankings, God used those spankings over the years to keep me from becoming an even bigger discipline problem.

I learned to HATE language, reading, and writing. I felt totally stupid, that something was wrong with me. And I really became a defiantly poor student all the way through High School. I developed tricks and traits that would help me pass from one grade level to the next. Whatever I had to do to just get a “C” on the report card, I would do. By the time that I got to high school, I would cheat or lie if I felt that would help me get the grade I needed. I remember just before graduating high school the principal said that I was graduating by the skin of my teeth. After I graduated Estela and I were dating. As she went into her Junior year, the principal called her into his office and told her she didn’t need to be dating me because I was a troublemaker. Being a defiantly poor student had translated into bad behavior.

As you can imagine this learning disability was very frustrating to me. It was especially and extremely frustrating for my mom and dad. Remember, there was absolutely nothing at that time known about dyslexia or any other neurological learning disability. My parents did everything they could to try to help me overcome this learning disability. They would have done anything to keep me from having to experience that disability that affected me so much throughout the first 18 years of my life (and still does some). I hated reading so much that my mother offered to pay me to read the comic paper that use to come in the Sunday morning newspaper, and I wouldn’t even read the comic paper for money because it made me feel so stupid. They helplessly watched me go through all those years of emotional destress, self-esteem problems, and some behavioral problems because of how that learning disability made me feel about myself.

What was my lot in life was simply an opportunity for God to exalt Himself in and through me. When I was 19 years-old God moved in me in such a way that was undeniable. He gave me such a hunger for Jesus Christ that I went to the small local Christian bookstore and bought my first copy of The Living Bible. The King James Version made absolutely no sense to the dyslexia me. My theme and claimed promise of God was Psalm 1:1-3 (look it up, it will help you). I started reading my Bible every day. The more I read the hungrier I got and the better I got at reading and understanding. I bought a dictionary, concordance, commentaries, and discipleship books. Reading became one of my most favorite things to do. Through a series of events, I did something I thought I would never do. I enrolled in a Junior College and after 2 years I graduated with an associate degree. Then I enrolled in a Bible College. After 4 years I graduated with a BA with a major in Bible. I learned Greek (koine) and Hebrew languages, theology, history, and learned to parse verbs, the declension of nouns, and how to diagram sentences, paragraphs, and books of the Bible. I even have eighteen hours toward a Master of Divinity degree. By the time I was 45 years old my library consisted of over 1000 books. It has been nothing short of a miracle.

Remember Mrs. Williams, my fourth-grade teacher? She became my favorite teacher and in the same year I went into High School she became the High School Counselor. See how God worked things out. During my High School years, I spent a lot of time in her office, and I give her a lot of credit for keeping me from dropping out and helping me graduate High School. We corresponded several times through my college years, and I sent her an invitation when I graduate with my BA Degree in 1984. I still have the gift she sent me when I graduated from Bible College. A brass book marker with an “A” on it. She knew it was a miracle of God. That it was only possible because of Jesus Christ and His finished work of the Cross. She passed away in 1992. If she had been alive in 2011, I would have sent her a copy of the book I wrote. I’m sure she would have been amazed at what God has done.

When I turned 45 years old in 2002, I had a massive heart attack that left me disabled…………

So, whatever your lot in life may be, know that it comes from the Lord and trust that He has a divine purpose in it. As you watch your children, grandchildren, siblings, parents, and friends struggle in their lots in life, be encouraged, God has a purpose for it and will glorifying Himself in and through them. Encourage yourself and others to delight in His word and meditate on it and God will cause prosperity, victory in whatever the struggle is. Nothing we go through in life is an accident. Every lot in life is an opportunity for God to work out His purpose and glorify Himself. He is worthy of our trust. All we have to do is learn to say, “It is well with my soul, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

A Christian’s Critical Thinking on Cataclysmic Climate Change

 It seems to me that God created the heavens and the earth and all that is contained therein, in such a way that keeps the atmosphere synchronized. We know through science that green plants need carbon dioxide to live, and they put oxygen into the atmosphere. Human beings, animals, reptiles, aquatic life, and birds need oxygen to live, and they put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. All living things need water and sunlight to live and God created our entire ecosystem in the six days of creation, and it has functioned without failure since. God’s created order takes care of His creation.

 

Although it is true that creation has suffered with the fall when man sinned in the Garden according to Genesis 1-3, it is also true that God’s creation can and does still function to the degree that He can and does sustain it to display His glory. “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:3) “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.” (Psalm 24:1-2) “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17) All creation is held together in Christ Jesus. He is still in complete control. The heavens and the earth will not be destroyed until Jesus passes judgement on them. The Scriptures are fairly clear that when His judgement comes upon the earth it will not be predictable nor will it be gradual. It will come suddenly, “like a thief in the night,” while people believe there is peace and safety.

 

I’m not saying that we don’t have a responsibility to care for God’s creation but the idea that we must reduce carbon emissions immediately or we are looking at global devastation seems to me to be out of balance with God’s created order. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the more plant life will benefit and produce more oxygen for the benefit of man, animals, birds, etc. In fact, it is scientific fact that the greening of earth has grown considerably over the past 35 years. Makes me wonder if we, human beings, are really historically putting more carbon in the atmosphere than God’s photosynthesis can handle.

 

Let’s look at carbon emissions from fossil fuel vs wood fire. Many science studies have shown that in many ways a wood fire (i.e. fireplace, firepit, forest fire, etc.) releases more carbon dioxide than fossil fuels per energy produced. In fact, burning wood releases about 75 percent more carbon dioxide than natural gas. This is why some places in America have placed restrictions on wood burning, even in fireplaces and fire-pits in your backyard. There’s been numerous reports that wildfires are much worse at polluting the atmosphere than fossil fuels. Now, I don’t believe that science proves God, but that God proves science. Science is not God. God is God. He is the author of all knowledge, and He reveals that knowledge to us as we study and learn about His creation.

 

Fire needs oxygen to burn and it puts off carbon dioxide. For thousands and thousands of years people on earth burned wood for cooking and warmth. Everywhere men and women traveled they used wood fires for cooking and warmth.

 

Up until about a century ago every home on earth used wood fire. Millions and millions of homes burned wood every day and in some cases 24/7 during the cold winter months. And since the wood fire produced greater greenhouse gases than does natural gas or fossil fuels today, how much more was the accumulative effect of all those millions of wood burning fires in every home. Add to that the use of fires associated with the historical reports of hundreds of wars when hundreds and thousands of soldiers used campfires for cooking and warmth. Then add to that the forest fires and grassland fires that swept across countless acres without any modern-day technology and techniques to try to control them. Yet, God’s created order has continued to keep the atmosphere synchronized for thousands of years for the benefit of His creation.

 

God’s creation is so precise that we can predict with minute accuracy meteors (think Haley’s Comet), sunrises and sunsets, moon cycles, the breeding of animals, and the planting of vegetation. We are even getting better at predicting weather. There are many benefits that God has used science to bless humanity with. Still, the idea that man can calculate the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is relatively a new study, beginning less than 100 years ago. The theory that humans are actively adding more concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere started in 1939. All it was at the time was a theory with no objective proof. Some scientists with preconceived beliefs set out to prove this argument and they devised systems in the late 1950’s to prove the theory. By the late 1960’s they were predicting the threat that the fluorocarbons in aerosol were going to destroy the ozone layer. In the 1970s there was the threat of the coming new ice age. Supposedly they perfected this system in the 1980’s-1990’s resulting with the threat of the coming acid rains and more destruction of the ozone layer again. Then they confirmed its ability to predict accurately in 2004 and with the confirmation came the threat of global warming and the melting of the ice caps in 10 years. 

 

Now this science is telling us that the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is the highest it has been in hundreds of thousands of years. Really? Something that started as a theoretical argument less than 100 years ago and 50 years of failed predictions is now perfected to the point that we can know with absolute certainty what the carbon dioxide levels were a hundred, thousand, million or billion years ago. (FYI-Creationism has substantial scientific evidence in a young earth belief of 6,000-10,000 years.) Just like the theory of evolution, the theory of catastrophic climate change began being taught in educational settings as if it were fact. When God was taken out of education the result was that science became God. Now we have 3 and 4 generations of educated people that have accepted these scientific theories as being absolute truth. This has recently been proven with the COVID-19 pandemic. We were told to “believe the science,” “trust the science,” and “follow the science.” And the science has been proven mostly false. A better investigating principle for anything that’s as big as climate change is “follow the money,” because it is consuming a massive amount of money globally. In much the same way that Religion was used in the Dark Ages, it appears to me that science is being used in an attempt to control the masses.

 

You know what we call someone who predicts that Jesus is going to come back on a certain date, which has happened countless times in 2000 years, and that date passes without Jesus coming back? We call those people false teachers or at best confused theologians. How about we apply the same principles to the science of climate change.

 

I understand that some people, even followers of Christ, may disagree with me, and that’s okay. Because, I could be wrong, but so could they. For Christians this is not an issue that determines fellowship. Or at least disagreement in present day climate change shouldn’t cause people to break Christian fellowship. It is an issue that demands critical thinking from a study of all angles. Don’t believe it just because some in higher education and politicians and the elite media moguls say you should believe it. Don’t not believe it because some preacher tells you not to. Do your due diligence and decide for yourself.

Society’s Tipping Point

Though I am a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ and there is no way that being a Christian doesn’t affect my world view, I am not writing this from the perspective of being a Christian. I am writing this from the perspective of being an American and observing what has come about in my lifetime (65 years). President John Adams wrote in 1798, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” As The John Adams Academy says in relation to this quote, “Morality and virtue are the foundation of our republic and necessary for a society to be free. Virtue is an inner commitment and voluntary outward obedience to principles of truth and moral law. Private virtue is the character to govern oneself according to moral law at all times. Public virtue is the character to voluntarily sacrifice or subjugate personal wants for the greater good of other individuals or the community. Specific moral virtues include charity, justice, courage, temperance, reverence, prudence, and honesty. These virtues are the moral fiber and moving force to act in accordance with wisdom.” It is about this morality and virtue that I write. It is not Christian Nationalism. It is a recognition and acknowledgment of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God.”

 

Most Americans don’t realize that there is a truth that has been proven since the dawn of societies. That truth is that as societies start rejecting moral law, which is the ever-living war between good and evil, there becomes a tipping point where the good of moral law can no longer protect against the evil of depraved mankind. In the past, the force of good has kept at bay the evil that crouches in the shadows waiting to pounce. It is important to understand that a result of a tipping point doesn’t happen immediately. Most of the time it takes years before the public results of a decision creates a tipping point. As the deterioration of moral law becomes a reality, the forces of good are weakened and the evil among us is emboldened. That tipping point is upon us.

 

One illustration of how a tipping point comes about is homosexuality in America. The first riot in America for homosexual/queer rights was The Copper’s Donut riot in Los Angeles in 1959. Riding the wave of the Civil Rights Movement, in 1966 in New York City there was the Julius’ Bar Sip-In and in San Francisco the Compton’s Cafeteria riot. Again, in New Yor City there were The Stonewall riots in 1969 and more throughout the 1970’s. However, in 1986 the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Georgia’s sodomy law. Sodomy laws were in almost all the States and had been since their respective statehood. These moral laws reflected the values and beliefs of society that identified “crimes against nature, committed with mankind or with beast.”  There were numerous demonstrations, mostly in California and New York City, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s. In 1990 Congress passed and President George H W Bush signed into law the Hate Crime Statistics Act, which was the first piece of American legislation that identified “sexual orientation” and gave it a Federal protected status. In 1993 President Bill Clinton became the first President to invite and host gay activist in the Oval Office to discuss policy issues. With enough Justices going off the High Court and new ones being confirmed, by 2003 the Supreme Court struck down the Texas Sodomy law of criminalizing intimate sexual conduct between two consenting male adults in private, which paved the way for the legalization of same-sex marriages. The three words that decision was made from are adults, consenting, and private.  In 2004 one State legalized same-sex marriage and by 2015 same-sex marriage was legalized in all 50 States. In the 25 years between 1990 – 2015, “sexual orientation” exploded into the LBGTQ+ being propagandized in every facet of society. Since 2015 the expansion of the LGBTQ culture has grown exponentially by adding the “+” sign to include any unnatural “sexual orientation” of not only what consenting adults do in private, but, along with other things, gender identity, gender dysphoria, trans-biological males participating in female sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms, as well as exploiting children’s sexuality and gender affirming medical treatment. The riots and demonstrations from 1959-1990 could be seen as the beginning of the tipping point but the major tipping point started in 1990 with political recognition and continued gaining valuation until the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015. The LBGTQ+ advocates have successfully altered the collective values and beliefs of the American culture by rejecting moral law. Even to the absurd point of Senators asking potential Supreme Court Justice to define what a woman is and asking, can a man get pregnant? Republicans and Democrats alike have contributed to this tipping point.

 

There was a time when most Americans married for life and raised their children to be good and responsible citizens. Families didn’t lock the doors to their homes, slept with the windows open on hot summer nights (grant it, before central AC), and hardly ever locked their car doors and even left the key in the ignition. There was a time when children played outside more often than not and without fear of adults but with respect for adults. People stopped to help others when their car broke down and gave rides to hitchhikers when they could. Public school teachers were basically good people and if they disciplined a child, the parents supported the teacher most of the time. Police, teachers, clergy, and veterans were usually highly respected in society. Working and self-reliance was honorable. Helping the sick or disabled was seen as a gracious act from humility, “there, but for the grace of God, go I.”

 

Those were the days when there were many more in society that lived by the virtues of moral law than those who didn’t. When the virtuously good in America kept evil at bay. Slowly, in reference to the time of history, yet as rapidly as in one generation the tipping points have changed America. Now, nearly half the marriages in America end in divorce and the majority of children are being raised in single parent homes or a blended family environment. I have never met a person whose parents’ divorce didn’t affect them in some negative way. Many American adults won’t make the commitment to marriage and just cohabitate together. The majority of American adults do not consider cohabitation to be a moral issue, thus, they see nothing wrong with living together without being married. And same-sex marriage or cohabitation is becoming more and more accepted and being promoted by Hollywood and all forms of media as just a natural alternative to heterosexual life. People lock their doors even when they are at home, hardly ever, if ever, open the windows of their homes, and have developed a habit of locking their car doors every time they get out of it. In fact, many people have alarm systems in their homes and alarms on their cars. Now, public school teachers have been stripped of all authority and education has assumed responsibility that was never meant for public education. Stopping to help someone on the road or picking up a hitchhiker is not safe. Police, teachers, clergy, and veterans are observed with suspicion, if not contempt. Fear of something bad happening prevents most children from ever playing outside without parental supervision. Work and self-reliance are no longer a point of American pride and helping those in need has shifted to governmental responsibility.

 

Why? Because society has lost the ability to protect its members. Moral law has deteriorated to the point where the invisible barrier between right and wrong has been weakened so much that the virtuous good in society is being overpowered by the evil of depraved mankind. One of the ways this tipping point has been revealed is in the attitude, suspicion, and violence toward the very people who have the job to protect and serve, the law enforcement officer. Yes, I know there are law enforcement officers that are bad. But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Did you know that the 8 years between 2012-2019, the median number of police officers, law enforcement officers, use to be called peace officers, who were killed, murdered was 163 per year. Starting in 2020, a tipping point of society’s outlook toward those we call to protect us, changed. Just one generation ago the whole nation created an emergency call system that when Americans need protecting or help, they can call 911 anytime day or night. But who do the good guys call when they need protecting? In the 3 years from 2020 through 2022 the median number of officers killed, murdered each year increased 100% to 320. The highest year was 2021 with 623 officers killed, murdered. The message sent with this tipping point is clear, defund the police or we will kill them. There were many others that died in various other ways while doing their job but statistically, no category showed a more drastic increase than law enforcement officers being targeted and killed simply for wearing a uniform and badge. That reveals a significant tipping point.

 

Marriage and family have been deteriorating for years. Theft is growing exponentially. Sexual assault or abuse is constantly feared. Murder is at an all-time high. Senseless violence is widespread daily. Vagrancy has taken over many communities. Illegal immigration has reach critical mass and continues to grow by the hundreds of thousands, weekly if not daily. Just think about it. In 2008 more than half of the voting populace elected a President that said publicly that he wanted to “fundamentally transform the United States of America.” That is to transform the fundamental virtues, values and beliefs that had previously been held by American culture. I acknowledge that there are things in America that need to change but those things aren’t the fundamental virtues, beliefs, and values that have made America what she was. One of the fundamental transformations that happened under his Presidency was that marriage is no longer defined exclusively as between a man and a woman and family is no longer defined as a mom and dad in a joint-parental role. It's no surprise that if you transform the basic building block of society then you modify those who depend on that building block for life and life instruction, the most vulnerable and impressionable, the children. Could it be that the confusion of sexuality that America is experiencing now is due to the transformation of that basic building block of society? Marriage and family are no longer based on moral law and instinctively children know that, but their emotions are telling them something different. The ripple effect of transforming the fundament foundation of society affects every aspect of society. Yet, in 2020 more than half of the voting populace again elected a President that would continue that fundamental transformation. In the midterm elections of 2022, more than half of the voting populace, primarily in places on the West Coast and East Coast, elected officials (Governors, Mayors, Attorney Generals, etc.) that want to change the values and beliefs of moral laws. It is of great importance that Americans, in general, remember that the tipping point of legalizing same-sex marriage began mostly on the West Coast and East Coast. Under a law in California (Prop. 47), that started in 2014 but became emboldened since 2020, allowed thieves to shoplift up to a value of $950 of merchandise and, if caught, will only be charged with a misdemeanor. The message sent is that theft is not necessarily wrong in and of itself but the dollar value of that which was stolen. In New York City the new Manhattan District Attorney announced a list of crimes that he would not prosecute and has downgraded more than half his felony cases to misdemeanors. Some who were incarcerated with sexual assault were released from jail only to repeat sexual assault. Entire blocks or neighborhoods have been taken over with vagrants. If a vagrant takes up residence in a vacant house it has become very difficult, legally, for the owner to expel the vagrant. A tipping point with respect to moral law and even for the rule of law and order has definitely happened.

 

As the tipping points continue to be unchecked in America the less society can protect itself from self-destruction. As some of these tipping points are coming about, I think it is significant to point out that at least half of the mass shootings since 1982 have happened since 2015. Could it be that the fundamental transformation of America has contributed to the increase of mass shootings? Maybe this fundamental transformation hasn’t been as beneficial as some thought. There will come a point, and now is, when evil will come to your house and demand what it wants with threats to you if you don’t give it. Think here, riots that moved into neighborhoods and cancel culture. There will come a point, and now is, when the cries of the victims will be heard day and night. Think here, about the cries of the families, over 100,000 last year, who’s loved ones died of fentanyl overdose. There will come a time, and now is, when society will no longer be able to protect you, your family, your friends, and your property. Think here, about the fewer police officers there are, the more emboldened the criminals have become. There will come a time, and now is, when the moral laws of the land will become so blurred that the guilty will go free, and the innocent will be arrested. Think about the ones who have stepped in to try to stop a violent attack on someone or those who stepped in to try to stop a thief from walking out of the store or the ones who have used deadly force in protecting their own or someone else’s home or property, only to find themselves arrested and, in many cases, prosecuted. If you shoot someone who is on your property to steal your possessions or do harm to your person or loved ones, you will be arrested and possibly prosecuted. When the government’s sword of justice against the unrighteous becomes a spoon that feeds the unrighteous the tipping point has past, and the fall of that society is imminent.

 

The thieves, murders, and violent offenders cannot be stopped by law because the law no longer has a moral code. To paraphrase a song’s lyrics, we no longer live by the Golden Rule, now he who has the gold makes the rules. Think of the worldwide wealth, like George Soros, and American wealth, like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg using their wealth to make the rules. Think of the hundreds of lobbyist groups that spend hundreds of millions of dollars to influence politics, elections, and laws in America. Think about how politicians go to Washington DC as public servants and leave there as millionaires. Think about how there are judicial double standards applied to the wealthy and powerful. Justice should not be determined by money or power but many times it is. There was a time in America where it was taught that “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” which is a statement on the principle of the depravity of mankind, that power tends to defile a person’s morality. There was a time when representatives were expected to legislate with a foundation of morality. The tipping point where moral law has lost its morality has past and now, we are reaping what was sowed.

 

What was once lived out in a microcosm of inner-city gangs and ghetto turf wars has now moved into the urban and suburban and is now rapidly moving into rural America. In the civil unrest of the summer of 2020 and into 2021, it has been estimated that between 15 million and 26 million people protested in over 10,000 counties and in at least 200 cities across America. More than 30 States activated over 96,000 National Guards and other enforcements to try to protect communities from the thugs and chaos. Over 200 cities imposed mandatory curfews. Yet over 2 billion dollars in damages have been recorded in vandalism, arson, looting, and violence in these mostly peaceful protest (sarcasm).

 

Like the frog in the kettle, most Americans don’t realize that the tipping point’s heat has been gradually increasing and will soon be at a boiling point, and the good ‘ole American way of life will be over. Already, you cannot trust the laws of the land to judge righteously between the guilty and the innocent. In many cases, the laws of the land benefit the criminals more than they do the victims.

 

May God have mercy on our children and grandchildren. It won’t be white-supremacy, climate change, or guns that destroys America. It will be the tipping point of the deterioration of moral law that gave us goodness, protection, and order. As that goodness gives way to evil the American dream will become the American nightmare.

 

It doesn’t have to be that way. As the old saying goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” So, be a good husband or wife, be a good parent, be a good son or daughter, be a good employer or employee, be a good neighbor, be a good citizen, live out morality and virtue privately and publicly, overall, just be a good person. Voluntarily sacrifice when you see a need. Be charitable, strive for justice, be courageous, apply temperance (self-control), have reverence and respect, look into the future for prudence, and be honest. Be the tipping point that begins the recovery of the American fundamental virtues, beliefs, and values that made America “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Can the Church Exist in Harmony with LGBTQ+ Community?

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9

When the Scripture speaks of being a peacemaker it is speaking of brokering peace between humans and God. The need for a peacemaker is to say that peace doesn’t automatically exist. It implies that peace is possible, but it also implies that there is a standard for that peace. Jesus is that standard. Not only is He the standard but He sets the standard. He is the peacemaker. He alone is our peace. Those who have experienced that peace are now to become peacemakers and thus partake of His family status, “sons of God.” The spiritual message of the peacemaker is that mankind is sinful and in need of a Savior who can save them from their sinfulness. Sinfulness is identified as a state of BEING rather than a behavior of DOING. That means we all sin because we are sinners and not just a sinner because we sin.

The path to peace with God is dictated by the whole of Scripture. From creation, to the Fall, to the Cross of Christ, to the empty tomb, to the Second Coming of Christ, the path to peace is laid out. In Jesus’ own words the path for each individual is determined by a work of the Holy Spirit. (John 16:8, 13) He convicts, woos, and provides the faith and grace to save and bring about a peaceful relationship between God and mankind. The one word that describes beginning this path is “repent.” Repentance is the turning point that begins the path to peace with God. That one word describes an awareness of fault and failure to be at peace and a recognition that Jesus is the only way to peace. It identifies a decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ and begin to be transformed into His likeness.

When that internal, spiritual peace becomes a reality in one's life it changes that person. And when that person shares that peace with another, they become a peacemaker. That peace changes the person and that person changes the culture they live in. In the Gospels and the Book of Acts the governing body, whether Jew or Greek, did what they did because they were afraid of the people (Acts 5:26). The Gospel of Jesus Christ was impacting so many and causing such a cultural voice that when they tried to stop its spread they couldn’t because there was a cultural restraint by the enthusiasm of lives being changed. Yet, opposition to the Gospel still brought about arrest, imprisonments, exiles, beatings, and executions.

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Romans 12:18

“If possible” implies a standard in which interrelational peace is possible. It also indicates that outside that standard, there is no peace. The Greek word for “if” in this context establishes a reality that peace with everyone is never going to happen. “So far as it depends on you” states that the road to interrelational peace is a two-way street where one can be at peace but the other may not be at peace. It also implies that you don’t have to lay down your standards or give-up your convictions to accomplish peace. Peace at all cost is no peace no matter the cost. Trying to broker peace between two entities that are unequivocally diametrically opposed is neither possible nor wise. That is, unless one entity is gracious, and the other entity is repentant.

For example, fire and water are at odds with one another. They both cannot inhabit the same space at the same time. One will cease to exist in connection with the other. It is no mistake that the term “fight” is used when we identify a fireman as one who “fights” fire. The fireman is one who is trying to bring peace to the culture (structures, property, people, etc.) which the fire is trying to destroy. To insinuate that the fireman and water are antithetical to peace is to deny the reality that the fire demolishes or destroys that which it comes in contact with. If fire is contained (i.e. like a campfire) and water is controlled (i.e. like a cup of coffee) then, metaphorically, each can share the benefits of a pluralistic society where human dignity, civility, and respect is extended toward each other.

Another example could be trying to broker peace between the pedophile and a child so they can inhabit the same house. If the pedophile will not cease to behave as a pedophile the child will never be able to exist in peace in the same space as the molester. One must be removed from the house or there will be no peace. The pedophile will destroy the child unless someone steps in and protects the child. To bring peace to the child it is of necessity to identify the behavior of the pedophile as wrong, evil, sick, sin.

Just as the first century Christians lived a radically different life than the culture around them, believers are to live a radically different life in our culture. First century Christians paid a price for being peacemakers. The culture they lived in didn’t always accept their peacemaking message. Some of them paid with their lives and became martyrs. Some of them were cast into prison. Some were exiled from their home, family, and friends. Some were stoned or physically assaulted. Most, if not all, were shunned by the culture they lived in.

We must understand that the peacemaker is motivated by a spiritual reality and not a social movement. The message of peace with God is never dependent on the social environment. As history instructs it is possible to experience the peace of God while being persecuted for sharing the message of peace with God. The Prince of Peace was the embodiment of grace and truth and came as the ultimate peacemaker, yet, He was met with scourging, a crown of thorns, and the cross. In the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, Peter and John acknowledged in open rebellion against the governing body that they must continue to speak the truth (5:27-32). So, whether the social environment is hostile or at peace with the message of the peacemaker, the character of the peacemaker is one of grace and truth, love and respect, dependent on the Holy Spirit to take the message and bear fruit.

In the Constitution of the United States of America, the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights established a society where the peacemaker could experience social peace while sharing the message of how to have peace with God. And, although the message is primarily spiritual in nature it can also bring about a social reform that identifies that the antithetical standard to peace is the sin of mankind. The message of peace with God creates a tension between behavior that is identified as sinful and the message of repentance that the peacemaker proclaims. It seems that as we embarked into the 21st century and the church growth movement of the past several decades along with the pressure to be politically correct the message of peace became more about social reform than spiritual in nature (think Moral Majority movement in the late 1970s-1980s, developing the church to be seeker sensitive, packaging the Gospel to be non-offensive, etc.). The message of the peacemaker became more about being practical and relative, lists of DOs and DON'Ts in behavior that brings about a desired result, rather than a spiritual conversion that identifies the need for repentance and brings about BEING at peace with God. This social gospel appears more about pop-psychology than it does about sound theology. The doctrine of the depravity of man is the beginning of the true Gospel of Jesus (Romans 3:10-18, 23). God established the church to be “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15) not only within the church but in the world, too.

What has happened in the past few decades in America is a shift where the society has not only rejected the social gospel but has rebelled against the need for repentance. Whether the community of faith recognizes it or not, the culture proves that there is a distinct difference between earthly kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. The idea that mankind is basically good in nature undermines the call to repentance (1 John 1:8-10). That is, society has demanded that the behavior that the peacemaker identifies as antithetical to peace with God no longer be identified as wrong and sinful. The social gospel has failed because it lacks the spiritual power (Romans 1:16) of personal conversion in repentance. Repentance is the recognition of not only DOING things that are wrong but a state of BEING wrong and the need to BE made right with God. Being made right with God is then the motivation to stop doing the things that God identifies as wrong (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

The message of the peacemaker begins with “Repent” (Romans 2:38). In the LGBTQ+ culture today the idea of repentance is rejected because there is nothing seen to repent of. Our culture has continued to blur the lines of immorality, whether that be lying, cheating, stealing, disrespect, sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, drunkenness, greed, jealousy, envy, selfishness, and a host of other behavior/characteristics the Bible identifies as sinful behavior/characteristics that will destroy human relationships and corrupt society. Yet, the peacemaker must resist the temptation to make their message a cultural matter. It is first and foremost an individual, spiritual matter.

While the peacemakers may work toward a political resolution to create a cultural milieu that allows them to live at peace within their society, the peacemaker must resist the temptation to make their message a political matter. It is first and foremost a personal, spiritual matter. While the government can and should establish legislation that encourages moral behavior and punishes immoral behavior (Romans 13), they can also direct a society that emboldens immoral behavior (legalizing LGBTQ+ behavior legitimizes immorality). Though Christian principles and values may be expressed in politics, the message of the Gospel must not be connected with any political movement of the day. Jesus is neither Republican nor Democrat. The peacemakers do not carry their message in order to change politics but to change the person.

The tension between individual rights and society’s responsibilities are at an all-time high. We know from history that when society abdicates their responsibility to identify some things as right and wrong, moral and immoral, in the name of personal, individual freedom that society is doomed to self-implode. When everyone does what is right in their own eyes, in the name of individual rights without a concern for social responsibility, that society is set on a course of destruction.

When the peacemaker is in a community that is hostile toward the message of repentance (because the message is an offense to that community) then the peacemaker must resist the temptation to try to bring about social reform based on behavior alone. The peacemaker’s message must remain focused and intentional on the state of BEING and not just behavior. At the same time, the message of the peacemaker must not become against any group of people in society. The message is a message of hope and not condemnation. The peacemaker represents the embodiment of truth and grace. So, the peacemaker must remain gracious with the truth. Yet, the example of Christ lets us know that when society rejects the truth, they will also reject the graciousness of the messenger.

“But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:14–15).

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are identified in the Bible as an environment where the concept of homosexual and deviant sexual behavior was ruling over the cities. They were cities where unnatural sexuality (sexuality that goes against Nature and Natures God) were practiced, celebrated, and promoted. Immoral unnatural sexuality was being forced on the moral inhabitants. The residents that stood on the principled application of Natural Law were being humiliated because they wouldn’t pronounce as right that which is wrong. If they wouldn’t willingly give their guest over to the crowd of deviants to be raped, they were threatened with force. The homosexuals demanded that the man that was trying to protect his family and guest with moral values to give up their moral values and give in to the unethical behavior of the homosexual community. The threat of violence was used to try to intimidate the ethical inhabitants to accept the lifestyle of the sexual deviants.

America, as a whole, has been developed by the homosexual and sexual deviant community into an environment of Sodom and Gomorrah. The LGBTQ+ community has not only demanded the right to live out their unnatural sexuality but they demand the whole community to acknowledge, accept, and defend the idea that there is nothing wrong in their lifestyle. If you say you have a religious objection to homosexuality you are labeled a bigot. The threat of riotous behavior is being used to intimidate the historical position of morally righteous.

In our culture today there is the demand to accept homosexuality, gender identification issues, or any other belief/behavior of the LGBTQ+ community. Not only to accept it but to not label it as wrong and to not call it to repentance (see the Equality Act that Passed the House of Representatives May 17, 2019). The peacemaker’s message is laced with the Biblical truth that the belief/behavior of the LGBTQ+ community must be repented of in order to experience peace with God. The peacemaker’s message is seen as hostile to the LGBTQ+ culture even if the peacemaker is graciousness, gentle, and respectful.

The challenge to the church is not how to soft sell the Gospel to the LGBTQ+ community but to trust the Holy Spirit to speak the truth in love. God uses these words to describe how He feels about the sexual behavior of the LGBTQ+ community: Abomination and perversion (Leviticus 18:22). Gross immorality (Jude 7). Indecent acts (Romans 1:27). Wicked (Genesis 19:7). Degrading passions and unnatural (Romans 1:26). Unrighteous (1 Corinthians 6:9). Immoral (1 Timothy 1:10). Ungodly (Jude 15).

No matter how aggressive the LGBTQ+ community is in promoting their cause, the peacemaker must remain respectful of the persons involved in the LGBTQ+ community. The peacemaker must remain in an attitude of love, acceptance, and forgiveness when dealing with any individual.

Trying to bring peace between the LGBTQ+ community and the Christian community is like trying to bring peace to fire and water. No matter how much hostility the LGBTQ+ community exhibits toward the Christian’s message of gracious repentance, the Christian community must resist the temptation to become hostile toward the LGBTQ+ community. Likewise, the Christian community must resist the urge to change their message of repentance so they can live in a politically correct harmony with the LGBTQ+ community.

When the Christian community lays aside the message of repentance in order to be at peace with the LGBTQ+ community it is like the Old Testament prophets who were, “Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.” (Jerimiah 8:11) So, let the Christian community be the peacemaker in truth and grace, and let the chips fall where they may. Better to be persecuted for the message than to circumvent the responsibility to the One who gave us the message.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) The Jews could be identified as the ones who are moral in behavior and the Greeks could be seen as the ones who were immoral in their behavior. Both need the power of God to bring about their salvation. It takes the same amount of the power of God to save the homosexual as it does to save the heterosexual. It doesn’t take more grace or mercy or love to save the LGBTQ+ community than it does the adulterer. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

“For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:12-14)

Make no mistake. The Church cannot exist in harmony with the LGBTQ+ community. By their very nature (one proclaiming the need for repentance and the other proclaiming there is no need for repentance), one will try to destroy the other. I would that every last one of those in the LGBTQ+ community would repent and be saved. It is the kindness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). The most loving and the kindest thing believers can do is to try to destroy the LGBTQ+ community through the power of the Gospel.

One may ask, “why single out the LGBTQ+ community over others that would be categorized as sinful by the Bible?” While it is true that the Biblical message of repentance is not limited to the LGBTQ+ community, it is also true that other groups of our society are not trying to demand and legislate their belief/behavior as protected by law. (The exception to this could be the abortion community.) Also, the nature of depravity behind the LGBTQ+ drives it to aggressively grow in its corruption and production of more deviant nature. Example: Acceptance of homosexuality rapidly went to legalized homosexual marriage and, now, even faster, has moved to Transgender, Queer, and the all-inclusive “+” that is attached to the movement. Over the past 3-4 decades the LGBTQ+ community has aggressively organized and pursued a legal status for their belief/behavior. They want to force society to recognize them as a civil rights community. To force society to cease and desist identifying their behavior as deviant. To make it illegal to speak against them whether that be in a public address (which could include preaching) or in private (counseling, family, etc). It is no coincident that the symbol of God’s promise (the rainbow) has been hijacked by the LGBTQ+ community as their symbol of their identification, love, and pride. It mocks God’s covenant, mercy, grace, and love. But, in the end, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)

The Equality Act of 2019 was first presented in 2015 but did not find enough votes in the House to pass. This Bill identifies just how aggressive the LGBTQ+ community is toward trying to force their belief/behavior on society as a whole and on the Church specifically. Not only does the Bill force public entities and privately-owned businesses to consent to their belief/behavior as a normal, viable lifestyle but by using identity-politics the door is opened to overburden free-enterprise with discriminatory lawsuits (https://www.eeoc.gov/data/lgbtq-based-sex-discrimination-charges) The Equality Act has the following included: “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.) shall not provide a claim concerning, or a defense to a claim under, a covered title, or provide a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of a covered title.” That is, religious conviction or Biblical principle can not be used as a defense for any public or private judgment against the LGBTQ+ community. This kind of legislation undermines the First Amendment of Religious Liberty. ( A great article concerning this was written by Dr. Albert Mohler Jr., President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, TN. Is Religious Liberty Truly In Peril? A Warning.) The extent of the reach of the demand of the LGBTQ+ community has been played out in the microcosm of Houston Texas in 2015. Emboldened under President Obama’s push for legalization of homosexual marriage, the city of Houston subpoenaed a group of Houston pastors to submit their sermons and communications concerning homosexuality to the mayor (an open lesbian). Fortunately, some 400 churches joined together to fight against this kind of censorship. Another kind of censorship is that Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, is being asked to recuse herself from cases that involve LGBTQ+ because of her Christian views. This is an attempt of cancel culture toward Christian views.

There is no doubt, if the LGBTQ+ community succeeds in their agenda the Biblical peacemaker will suffer persecution in the United States of America. Some will pay with their lives. Others will be cast in prison. Some will be separated from their homes, family, and friends. The Judeo-Christian values and mores that have been guiding America since her inception will become illegal.

The Apostle Peter writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that God “condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds).” (2 Peter 2:6-8) Jude also instructs that “Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them” (Jude 7) were destroyed as an example of God’s judgement against the ungodly.

Interestingly, Jude, though he gives explanation as to the identifying behavior and characteristics of those “ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4) he gives this illustration as instruction on how to relate to them: “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 9) We would do well to heed his instruction today in dealing with the LGBTQ+ community. The Christian community is not to hurl insults, be verbally abusive, or declare God’s judgement on them. According to God’s Word, even if we feel like Lot, that we are being harassed, verbally assaulted, called names, our soul is in anguish, and we are oppressed by what we hear and see on a daily basis we are to keep “building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” (Jude 20-23)

The parenthetical insight into Lot’s character, 2 Peter 2:8, gives us an understanding into how oppressive it is to live in a society that has become so sensually corrupt that its public indecent acts are seen and heard daily. The righteousness of Lot was not enough to cause a restraint and curtail the open and unashamed public display of the sensuality of homosexual behavior. This is displayed in the fact that all the men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and demanded he turn over his guests so that they could rape them (Genesis 19). The homosexual community of Sodom had an expectation that Lot would let them rape his guest and they were willing to storm the house by force and take them if Lot didn’t hand them over. Living in this environment was tortuous, causing anguish to Lot’s soul. Maybe the anguish of soul was partly for what he saw in his own family. After all, some of his daughters and sons-in-law (assuming children too) refused to leave with Lot, his wife, and two of his unwed daughters. Those daughters and families were destroyed along with all the other inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. Also, Lot lost his wife when she disobeyed and looked back as they were fleeing the cities and valley. That’s a lot of heartache, disappointment, and grief to bear. The Scripture implies that the anguish of soul was from the lawlessness of homosexual behavior that he saw and heard day-in and day-out. Yet, even as his soul grieved, he did not compromise the message that the behavior was wicked (Genesis 19:7). Lot confronted the ungodly mob with the words “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.” He refused to call it less than what it was. The homosexual community accused Lot of judging them and threatened to do more harm to him than they intended to do to his guest. This is the natural progression of the corruption of unbridled ungodliness. The more ungodly behavior is legalized the worse society will become. We see this playing out in every community in America.

Likewise, the Church in America must not compromise the message that identifies the behavior/character of the LGBTQ+ community as wicked in the sight of God. Also, the Church, must influence, as much as possible, the moral laws of the land so as to do what is best for society. God has established government to be “a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:4). So, in faith, in love, in mercy, in humility, in hope, with gentleness and reverence/respect and in obedience to her Lord the Church must keep on sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ until He comes again. Just as in Houston in 2015, the Church must be the restraint to the foolishness of mankind. The Church must not give consent to those who practice immorality. The peacemaker must with love proclaim the truth that the LGBTQ+ need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If they continue to find their identity in LGBTQ+ behavior and community, they are denying Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It’s not their behavior that cause them to be lost, it is that they are denying Jesus that cause them to be lost. If they repent and believe they will find their identity in Christ. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) In salvation they will no longer be identified by being LGBTQ+ because they will see that they are so much more in their identity in Christ. Identity in Christ destroys the LGBTQ+ community. My God bring about a spiritual revival in the LGBTQ+ community in the same way that He did in Nineveh through the proclamation of Jonah.