Responding to Anonymous

I am becoming an extremely quick fan of blogs ever since I stumbled upon the blog of one of my favorite preachers in this country, H.B. Charles of Los Angeles, CA. It was due to my intrigue with his blog that I set out to start my own blog. Because I was a neophyte when I began my blog, I failed to check the settings to ensure that any one can made a comment to one of my blog entries (here I thought that I really knew what I was doing). So after I made a comment on one of my newer blogging buddies, Pastor Kraig Pullam's post on being inspired to do better, I noticed that someone who commented under the name of anonymous let me know what I did not know, that anonymous commentors were unable to post on my blog. So whoever you are anonymous, please accept my apologies and my gratitude for bringing this to my attention.

But I want to also commend you on bringing up a couple of touchy subjects within the Body of Christ, and that is homosexuality and molestation. Both of those subjects have polarized many of our churches so much so that a lot of the pastors of our churches refuse to address the issues, probably because either they are guilty of performing these acts themselves, or they are deftly afraid to preach/teach against them because they are worried that their choir stands will empty, musicians will leave, and most of all their tithes and offerings, and don't forget Pastor's Anniversary, will suffer greatly.

For if one is desirous of pastoring with a true Prophetic voice in times such as these, then one must hear the words of the Lord given to Jeremiah in 1:8, which says, be not afraid of their faces. We as ambassadors of the most high God, can not pastor the people of God effectively if we pastor in fear. And both of these subjects, more emphatically, homosexuality has caused many a pastor to hide in fear while sitting in the "middle seat".

Since we are not to be afraid of the faces of the people and having been exhorted along with Timothy by the Apostle Paul to preach the Word when they want to hear it or when they don't want to hear it, let me answer this question by saying clearly and concisely that homosexuality is a sin and abomination against God. I am not saying this based upon my own personal views of homosexuality, but I am basing my assertion on the fact that it is wrong because scripture declares it to be so. I am not referring to the most common passage found in Genesis 19 regarding the acts of depravity performed by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, because many scholars have since attempted to ascertain that the original language of the text is ambiguous at best. But there is a passage of scripture that refuses to be clutched in grips of ambiguity, Leviticus 18:22 which clearly says, thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is an abomination. There is no gray area there: homosexuality is wrong according to the Word of God, and that's more than enough for me.

One last word about molestation. This is a serious problem both in church and in society as a whole. We need to deal with this issue more in bible studies, men's & women's ministry meetings, youth ministry meetings, etc., because if we don't we will have a church full of hurting folk who have never had help dealing with their issues. The church is supposed to be the place where the hurting can find help for all of their ailments.

Let me know what you think!