“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.

President Biden recently signed an executive order directing his administration to protect the LGBTQ community from several different concerns. One of those concerns was conversion therapy.

I am not opposed to conversion, that is, sharing the Gospel with someone and assuming one becomes convicted of their sin and wants to trust Christ, leading that person to Him. But based on what I understand conversion therapy to be, I am opposed to it.

From what I have heard tortuous practices such as electrical shock and brainwashing techniques have been employed to accomplish a so-called “conversion” from homosexuality to heterosexuality. You cannot torture someone into trusting Christ or brainwashing someone into believing; that is not how it works. If this is what we are talking about such practices should be outlawed; they are un-biblical and inhumane.

One cannot talk or torture someone into changing his or her behavior when there has not been a change of heart. We do not need that sort of conversion therapy, because genuine conversion is all the therapy anyone will ever need.

Christian concerns with prohibition of conversion therapy are over the baby being thrown out with the bath water, that is, genuine evangelical concern for those snared in a sinful lifestyle may be inhibited from sharing the only hope for their plight, salvation in Christ.

When California was considering legislation prohibiting conversion therapy two Christians who were pastors expressed their concerns their religious freedom would be curtailed forcing them from sharing how they had been set free from homosexuality.

Pastor Ken Williams and Pastor Elizabeth Woning, two former gay people, oppose the bill claiming it discriminates “against people like themselves, who overcame suicidal thoughts by following their faith away from their LGBT identities.”

Woning said, “For us, walking out our faith with Biblical conviction means life and hope. Our faith has saved us from suicide and given us freedom to live with clear consciences,” adding, “We too would like to be acknowledged and affirmed. Instead, activists attack our efforts to care for like-minded friends by promoting dangerous counseling restrictions and stifling our free speech.”

Williams agreed, “For years, I believed that even God hated me because of my behavior,” he said. “But in my early 20s, I encountered a God who loved me despite my sins and temptations. Today, I love my life. I have been married to my beautiful wife for 13 years, and we have created four incredible children together. To someone like me, California Assemblyman Evan Low’s proposed resolution, ACR-99, feels like an unfair and direct attack.”

Joe Dallas an ordained pastoral counselor wrote the proposed law “restricts much more than counseling, which attempts to change internal sexual responses. It, in fact, dictates to pastors that they cannot teach that homosexuality is a sin, nor can they encourage homosexually-attracted people who hold a traditional biblical view to live in accordance with their own faith.”

It is a statistical fact those who practice the LGBTQ lifestyle are ten times more susceptible to suicide than the general population. The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers the only help and hope for those burdened with the sinful lifestyle of homosexuality.

Biden’s executive order is not currently a threat to Christian counseling, but the day may come when we, like Peter and the early church leaders, may need to say, “We must obey God rather than men,” Acts 5:29.

“The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him,” Proverbs 18:17.

A recent article appeared in Yahoo news titled, “Rep. Ted Lieu Silently Schools GOP On Jesus Christ’s Comments About Homosexuality.” Representative Lieu addressing his fellow representatives of the United States House of Representatives said, “I just thought I would now recite what Jesus Christ said about homosexuality,” then remains silent for about 15 seconds before yielding the floor.

It was dramatic. It was intended to be. Lieu used Jesus Christ as his authority for addressing what he termed as “the historic wave of bills targeting LGBTQ teens, children and their families.” The tacit effect he meant to convey was if Jesus Christ never said anything specifically against homosexuality why do we make it a big deal.

As the verse above says, “The first to plead his case seems right,” but let’s examine what Lieu said. Lieu employed an informal fallacy commonly known as an argument from silence. People, politicians especially, use such fallacies “when the speaker’s goal of achieving common agreement is more important to them than utilizing sound reasoning.”

Lieu is right Jesus never specifically targeted the sin of homosexuality, but he never said anything during His earthly ministry concerning fornication (sex outside of marriage), pedophilia (having sex with children), or bestiality (having sex with animals), that does not mean Jesus, because He did not directly mention these sins, condones any of these illicit sexual practices.

In fact, as the Second Person of the Trinity, He along with Father God and the Holy Spirit inspired the prophet Moses and the apostle Paul to write about all of these sexual sins. And Jesus throughout His earthly ministry declared His trust in and repeatedly quoted the Scriptures He inspired. Ergo, it would be completely false to think Jesus condoned any type of sexual immorality specifically condemned by the Bible.

What kind of bills target “LGBTQ teens, children and their families?” Is Lieu referring to laws meant to prevent men who pretend to be women from competing in women’s sports? Maybe he thinks our law in Florida that prevents teachers from discussing sex with kidergarteners and children through the third grade targets homosexuals and transgender people.

Let me be perfectly clear, I do not want any teacher discussing their sex life with underage children whether or not their sexual orientation is heterosexual or homosexual. But it is not heterosexuals for the most part who are protesting such laws. Homosexuals cannot have children biologically speaking; the only way they can continue their lifestyle to the next generation is inculcating the children of heterosexuals with their views.

Lieu attempted to influence his fellow lawmakers with his specious reasoning; of course, that is not difficult to do with fellow politicians whose reasoning is no better than his.

I am sure Lieu will be just as silent when he stands before the Judge of the whole earth. That will be quite dramatic, damnably dramatic.

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling,” Proverbs 16:18.

Historically speaking the Seven Deadly Sins are “pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth.” Some have said these sins are not mentioned in the Bible, but such a statement reveals an utter ignorance of what the Scriptures declare.

The following is a list of the seven deadly sins and some of the Scriptures denouncing them:

Pride: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate,” Proverbs 8:13.

Greed: “The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the treacherous will be caught by their own greed,” Proverbs 11:6.

Wrath: “Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing,” Psalm 37:8.

Envy: “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always,” Proverbs 23:17.

Lust: “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.,” James 1:15.

Gluttony: “Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door,” Ezekiel 16:49 (NLT).

Sloth (i.e., lazy, indolent): “Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks,” Ecclesiastes 10:18 (ESV).

Pride accompanies every other sin because it takes prideful arrogance to disregard what God teaches us is right and wrong and then do as we please. Pride deceived Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and led Adam to accept and eat it when it was offered to him. Pride is what makes us think it is alright to rebel against the will of a Holy God.

When it comes to sexual sins any sex act outside the marriage of one man to one woman is a perversion of the sex act and is an abomination. This would include fornication, adultery and bestiality. There are not many in our current cultural setting that can say they have not committed a sexual sin, though there are some. There is forgiveness of sin though for those who confess their sin and turn to Christ in faith.

But generally speaking fornicators, adulterers and those who have sex with animals do no flaunt their sins in public nor take pride in them. That is not true regarding the LGBTQ community. June is the month when they are “loud and proud” to celebrate their sin, and they want everyone to know it. They shed whatever shame they may have as they step boldly out of the closet, if they have not already.

While the Christian community is accused of hating and/or fearing those in the LGBTQ community, I can say I do not hate them any more than I would someone who commits one of the other sexual sins. It is a sin no different than any other sin, and like all other sins they need to be warned of the consequences of disobeying a Holy God.

But I think it is appropriate that the LGBTQ community’s celebration of sexual sin this month is called PRIDE, because it takes great arrogance to celebrate what the Word of God decries as sin. I do not hate or fear their pride, but I am saddened at their disregard for the divine injunction and what it will ultimately mean for them.

Referring to his adultery with Bathsheba the prophet Nathan says to David, “However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die,” 2 Samuel 12:14.
 
For almost twenty years victims of sexual abuse and those who knew something should be done communicated to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention the names of child molesters and other sexual abusers who served on the staffs of SBC churches. “They made phone calls, mailed letters, sent emails, appeared at SBC and EC meetings, held rallies, and contacted the press…only to be met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC.”
 
At the national convention in Nashville in 2021 the messengers voted to create a Sexual Abuse Task Force to investigate the claims. Guidepost Solutions LLC was tapped to conduct an independent “inquiry into the actions and decisions of EC staff and members from January 1, 2000, to June 14, 2021, with respect to allegations of abuse, mishandling of abuse, mistreatment of victims, patterns of intimidation of victims or advocates, and resistance to sexual abuse reform initiatives.”
 
The Guidepost Solutions “investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse. They closely guarded information about abuse allegations and lawsuits, which were not shared with EC Trustees, and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other considerations.
“In service of this goal, survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action due to its polity regarding church autonomy – even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation.

“As survivors became more vocal and the issue of sexual abuse became more prominent in the media divisions became apparent within EC leadership. In recent years, as some within the SBC have been more open to reforms, they were met with opposition and antagonism from those resistant to change.”

The quotes given above were taken verbatim from the summary of a 288 page report on the findings of Guidepost Solutions. One person who read the report said it took him seven hours to read it. From what I have read in the summary I cannot imagine it would be a pleasant read.

Let me summarize even further. The Executive Committee is the body that directs the day-to-day business affairs of the Southern Baptist Convention. The men who served on that committee were advised by legal counsel that the SBC had no authority to act on what happened in local churches and to get involved might incur liability for the SBC. Their inaction only served to perpetuate further incidents of abuse; their failure is reprehensible.

I was raised in a SBC church in Jacksonville, Florida. Being raised in an SBC church instilled in me a high view of Scripture as being the inerrant Word of God and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. What might be the legally allowable thing to do may not always be the right thing to do. I was taught to always do the right thing, because our God always does the right thing.

The Executive Committee in this matter sought to protect the denomination from legal liability, but they had a higher moral obligation to take the appropriate actions to protect those who had been victimized by sexual abuse.

Like David, they “have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.”

It has been said, “The first casualty of war is the truth.” This is because the opposing countries in an impending conflict need the support of their respective citizens, and each will do what is necessary to get that support even if they have to lie to get it.
     The same axiom applies in a debate, which is nothing more than a war of words. Truth can become a casualty in the effort to win the debate. I am not a fan of wars or debates, but I am an ardent advocate of truth.
     For the Christian truth is not a principle, or a proposition, it is a Person. It is the One who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” The truest thing a man can do is to emulate the life of Christ.
     Peter addresses this in his first letter when he writes “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,” First Peter 3:15.
     One of the branches of theology is apologetics. The word is derived from the Greek word apologia that appears in the above text and is translated as “make a defense.” Apologetics teaches students of the Bible how to defend their faith, the things they believe.
     Some think the epitome of apologetics is to engage unbelievers in formal debates, but debates can sometimes confuse rather than clarify the issues discussed. This is because they do little more than showcase the scholarship and cleverness of those debating. One might come away with more doubt than belief, and truth may seem elusive.
     Besides, I do not think that is the point Peter was making. When we “sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts,” that is, when we actually live out His teachings, we will draw the curiosity of the unbelieving world giving us the opportunity to witness to the “hope that is in” us.
     This means apologetics, as a discipline, is not the domain of purported theologians and Bible scholars reserved for the forum of public debate. Apologetics consist of knowing what we believe and why we believe it so we can bear witness to the truth when we are questioned about why we live as we do.
      This is the responsibility of every believer, to know what we believe and why we believe it, if we hope to live our lives intentionally for Christ and be a witness to those things we hold to be true. And those things we hold to be true are plainly seen in the Scriptures.
     We have not been called to win debates or arguments; we have been called to win souls. The greatest apologetic is not a well-worded argument or a clever comeback as entertaining as they might be. The greatest apologetic is a life that has been well lived for Christ.