Participants: Joshua Nelson (Host), Brittany Hill-Morales, Kimberly Douglas, Kory Douglas, Xavier Morales
Series Code: PC
Program Code: PC000088A
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:02 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:04 may be too candid for younger children. 00:38 Hello, welcome to Pure Choices. 00:41 I'm your host Pastor Joshua Nelson. 00:43 So glad you decided to join us today. 00:45 We are doing a part two on our Loving the Community. 00:48 We're continuing our topic and discussing 00:49 the community of the LGBTQIA community 00:52 and talking about how we should address 00:55 and love that community. 00:57 But before we begin on this 00:58 or continue with this discussion, 01:00 let us bow for another moment of prayer. 01:04 Heavenly Father God, we just ask that your spirit 01:06 would be with us and guide this discussion 01:08 in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 01:10 Amen. 01:12 Let's introduce our panel. 01:13 To my left, I have Pastor K P Douglas, 01:15 a pastor in Southeast Missouri. 01:17 Good to have you, my brother. 01:18 His wife will be here on the couch, 01:20 a scholar in our own right. 01:23 Kimberly Douglas, good to have you here. 01:24 Next to her, we have the Morales family, 01:27 Brittany and Xavier. 01:28 So glad that you both are here with us 01:30 to continue this discussion that we had before. 01:33 And just to kind of summarize what we talked about 01:35 in our last program, we talked about 01:38 really first being sympathetic trying to understand 01:41 the community and understanding 01:43 what they may be feeling. 01:45 And we also talked about how we feel. 01:47 And many of us stated that we are very ignorant 01:50 or very unsure about really how they are feeling 01:53 or how to address this subject. 01:55 And so we talked about that, 01:57 we also talked about the biblical stance. 02:00 And we made it clear that the Bible does talk 02:02 against fornication and talks about 02:05 that there are things that we should be careful with 02:07 especially in terms of judgment, God says to us 02:10 about those who are sexually immoral. 02:13 And so we want to go a little further 02:15 and a little deeper and unlock some more answers and questions 02:19 that we may have and discuss this even more 02:21 and use some biblical 02:22 and spiritual prophecy parameters 02:24 to help us and guide our discussion. 02:26 We did finish off before talk and I asked the question 02:28 about does God changes mind. 02:31 And I ask that because we know 02:33 that originally God created Adam and Eve in the garden. 02:36 He made male and female to reproduce 02:40 and populate the earth. 02:41 He created them, that was the image of God, 02:43 and we find that 02:45 that's pretty clear in the Bible 02:46 that was the original design. 02:48 But does God change His mind and change the way 02:51 that He classifies things 02:54 based on the culture of the day? 02:56 Does He change how things maybe should be 02:59 to how things are and how things, 03:02 He just tolerate things and says, 03:03 "Well, it's okay to do." 03:05 Does He change His mind? 03:07 So I want to go a little deeper 03:08 and look at some specific instances 03:09 where people may say, "Hey, that story or that verse 03:12 proves that God change His mind." 03:14 And let's talk about what that really means. 03:16 So I'll start off with Pastor Douglas, 03:19 you want to start off? 03:20 If you want me to do. Okay, and then we'll go... 03:23 Unless when I supposed to take you. 03:24 Go ahead then. 03:25 But I know that people talk a lot 03:27 about the story of Jonah were God sends Jonah 03:30 to Nineveh and, you know, He basically sends 03:32 what a message of judgment like, 03:34 "You're going to be destroyed." 03:35 But at the end of the story, even Jonah's upset 03:38 because God has changed His mind. 03:40 And but I can finally say this instead of stammering. 03:44 Mercy. 03:45 If I can say this, you know, 03:46 in my opinion and based on my study, 03:48 it only seems that God changes His mind 03:51 based on the change that we have. 03:52 He didn't just say, "Well, you know, 03:54 because you are sinning because you have these ways, 03:56 let me change how I deal with your sin 03:58 and with your ways." 03:59 Well, God says, "If you will, you know, repent, turn around, 04:03 make a change in your habits." 04:05 But in your heart say, "God, you know, 04:07 I want to repent like what Nineveh did." 04:09 That God does change His mind. 04:11 I was one of those people who just answer emphatically, 04:14 "No, He does not change His mind." 04:16 But God does change His mind, 04:18 I don't know if He changes His ways. 04:20 You know, God seems to be a God 04:22 where His ways are just filled with mercy. 04:27 And so even what we see in Nineveh is no different 04:29 from what we see when God says to Adam and Eve, 04:31 you know, "Listen, I understand you sinned, 04:33 but, you know, there will come somebody 04:35 and he will, you know, while he bruises the heal, 04:37 you will bruise his head." 04:38 You know, in that same message of salvation which is Mercy 04:42 based on what we don't deserve, 04:44 you know, is God changing His mind 04:46 is what He does over and over in every situation. 04:47 Yeah, and I like to point out to that Jonah was, 04:49 "I know you are going to do this, guy. 04:51 You know, you're just so merciful, 04:52 you're so loving, you know." 04:54 And that's the ways of God. 04:55 God is a loving, He always is and He always willing 04:57 to take back a sinner who has repented 04:59 and changed the consequences that really should've been 05:04 but because of the repentance He will change. 05:06 So let's make that clear. 05:08 Is there any other comments you want to make 05:10 in regards to God changes His mind. 05:11 Go ahead. 05:12 Yeah, I don't think He... 05:14 I mean, looking it for a behavioral standpoint. 05:17 I don't necessarily think He changes His mind 05:20 but He changes His approach. 05:22 You talked about culture of the day and everything. 05:24 I think He changes His approach to give us the message, 05:28 you know, the message of salvation. 05:30 I think the general premise of salvation of coming 05:32 to dwell with Him in the kingdom 05:34 remains the same through and through. 05:35 But His approach, His behavior changes 05:39 in the sense of, you know, 05:40 He approached one tribe this way 05:43 and another section this way and another area this way. 05:46 One big example is He approached the Pharisees, 05:50 the parables, you know, He approached a lot of them 05:53 with parables verses us. 05:55 Now-a-days, we have the Word. 05:57 And parables may not make that much sense to us now 06:00 because we're not living in the context 06:02 or in that culture. 06:03 However, you can still draw from the well 06:06 from the living water, we can draw from there 06:08 and conclude, you know, 06:10 the message of the Kingdom of God 06:12 is at hand is throughout the entire Bible. 06:16 So I think the same message 06:18 but maybe the approach is different. 06:19 Okay. 06:21 Mind, message, approach, difference, 06:23 what about His plan? 06:24 Does He change His plan? 06:26 Does He change because, you know, 06:28 there are instances where He said, you know, 06:30 this is what you should be doing, 06:32 you should not divorce or you should not need a king 06:34 I'm your king. 06:35 But then He allowed for there to be a king in Israel, 06:39 He allowed for there to be divorce. 06:41 And so does He change His plan? 06:43 Does things, you know, 06:44 based off of what is to going on 06:46 what people are doing? 06:49 I kind of lost my train of thought. 06:51 Because He allows for something to happen, 06:53 does that necessarily mean 06:54 that there is a change in the plan? 06:57 Because if you think about the plan of salvation. 07:03 The plan of salvation existed before a sin. 07:06 Did the plan of salvation change 07:09 when sin entered the picture? 07:11 Lamb of slain from the foundation of the world. 07:13 Revelations says. That's a good point. 07:15 Look at how God deals with us. 07:19 You know, we are the ones who choose, 07:23 you can either choose righteousness and Christ 07:27 or you can choose Satan and his MO. 07:30 Yeah. Yeah. 07:32 Does the plan change according to how we choose? 07:35 No, we choose which plan we want to follow. 07:38 You know, I think it's also good to point out, 07:41 I remembered what I was going to say that, 07:43 that anything outside of God is death. 07:45 And so even the judgments of God are not really God 07:49 casting judgment, He's only telling you 07:51 what will naturally happen as a result of your actions. 07:55 And so, you know, we talk about Nineveh, 07:57 we talk about Zaccheus these guys who got, 07:59 you know, mankind. 08:00 You know, when Adam and Eve in the garden, 08:02 everything was perfect, 08:04 naturally they would live forever 08:05 'cause they were in God, they were in His will. 08:07 But to step out of the will of God 08:09 is to automatically call down damnation upon yourself. 08:13 So we can only, you know, come to the conclusion 08:15 that to step back into the will of God 08:18 is naturally to call back now the life of God or His grace. 08:23 If you're outside of God, it's damnation, 08:25 if you're in God, it's life. 08:27 So I don't know if God necessarily even... 08:29 and I said it just a while ago He change His plans. 08:31 But I don't know if He changes anything, 08:33 He jus t tells us what it is. 08:34 The truth is if you step outside of me, 08:36 it's not I'm killing you or punishing you, 08:38 you're really punishing yourself. 08:40 And if you step back inside of Me, 08:42 you save yourself from the punishment 08:44 you would have gotten if you were outside. 08:45 I mean, look at the example of Abraham, you know, 08:47 we talked, people say, 08:48 "Polygamy was okay, God condoned it." 08:49 But, you know, that was not His plan 08:51 for it to happen, He did not condone it 08:52 because he was naturally see 08:54 the negative results that took place. 08:57 Every single thing, you know, even in getting a king, 08:59 you see the negative results that happened, 09:00 you see the negative results of them, 09:02 you know, even divorce, you know. 09:04 So to say that God allows and says, "That's okay." 09:06 That means you have to say that God also allow 09:09 for the negative things to take place 09:10 and thus He's responsible 09:11 for all the negative things, you know. 09:13 No. 09:14 God has a original plan and He wants us to stay in line 09:18 with that because ultimately like you said 09:20 when we're close to Him, 09:21 there's a life apart from them there is death. 09:23 The thing about salvation that is, you know, 09:26 a mystery and is really kind of simple too 09:29 is that God does it based on your choice, 09:31 this is the bottom line. 09:32 God cannot save someone who does not want to be saved. 09:36 As much as God can make for salvation, 09:39 the lamb could have been slain before the foundation, 09:41 and then some... 09:42 you know, what I'm saying. 09:44 I mean, yeah, Negroes, 09:45 they become the mad lambs slaying 09:46 before foundation. 09:48 But even with what Christ has done, the power 09:50 and what Christ has done is only really effective 09:52 if you choose it. 09:54 You know, imagine if Christ had died 09:56 and the disciples fled and never came back, 09:59 never went to the upper room, 10:00 then the slaying of the lamb would have been lost, you know. 10:04 But the power was that even in not understanding it, 10:07 they came in and made the choice, 10:09 we're going to come together 10:10 and we're going to accept what He has done, you know. 10:12 All right. 10:13 Well, let's make this clear and kind of say make sure 10:15 is clear what we're saying. 10:16 You know, we are saying that if you are engaging 10:21 in something that is not morally sanctioned 10:24 in the Bible in terms of, you know, 10:26 homosexuality behavior, lifestyle 10:29 these type of things are not 10:31 what God originally planned for us to do. 10:33 These are things that we have chosen 10:35 to do on our own, it's not in the Bible. 10:38 And God is allowing things to take place right now 10:42 but there is still going to be consequences for the actions 10:44 that we take that are outside of God's will. 10:47 And so, you know, let's be clear on that 10:49 and understand that, you know, there is a standard, 10:52 God does not change His moral law. 10:54 If you could've change His moral law, 10:56 then Jesus would not have had to die, you know, 10:58 on the cross if you could've just changed His moral laws. 11:00 So there are moral issues that He sticks to 11:04 and I want that to be very, very crystal clear 11:06 because, you know, we often want to go off 11:08 of our emotions and how we feel is okay 11:10 because of how I feel so God is going to hear 11:12 to my feelings and my thoughts. 11:14 But there is still a standard that God has 11:17 and we as Christians need to seek to be as close 11:20 as we can to God and His standards. 11:23 But then there's thorough little 11:24 monkey wrench into this thing 11:25 because a part of the community, 11:27 there's also the transgender and this is an aspect 11:31 of the community that says that, 11:32 "I don't feel like I am man, all right, you know. 11:35 And I would like to be, I feel like I am woman 11:37 so I'm going to take necessary medical steps 11:40 to change my body to become another gender." 11:44 What do we say about that? 11:46 What does the Bible say in regarding to that? 11:48 Is there anything that He said because now let me make sure 11:51 I make this clear now if I am a female now, 11:54 now I feel like I can marry a male and it's okay 11:58 because it's still man and woman 12:00 that I've changed my gender. 12:02 As you're saying about feelings the issue 12:05 that we have right now society is we have problems defining 12:08 what it really means to be a male or a female 12:12 so a person can have that extra confusing 12:14 trying to figure out, "Okay, am I really a man 12:16 or am I really a woman 12:18 and what does that really look like?" 12:20 And it all boils down to remembering what God says 12:23 in His Word in Psalms 139. 12:26 David was saying thing, "God, for you created 12:28 my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb, 12:32 I praise You because I'm fearfully 12:33 and wonderfully made, I know that full well. 12:36 My frame was not hidden from you 12:38 when I was made in a secret place, you know, 12:41 when I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 12:42 Your eyes saw my unformed body." 12:45 God was there in the entire process of a child 12:48 being in his mother or her mother's womb. 12:51 So when the child is born, it wasn't a mistake, 12:53 there's no confusion, maybe the issue is that 12:57 we are having problems in finding what a man 12:59 and what a woman is 13:00 and what their roles are in society. 13:02 Okay. That was interesting. 13:04 Does anybody else want to add to that? 13:05 I think it should be clear to 13:06 we should tell about the feelings 13:08 because we don't want everybody to think that, 13:09 "Well, if God made me fearfully, wonderfully, 13:11 then He made me fearfully, wonderfully homosexual." 13:13 You know, those, we've already established 13:15 I guess in part one that those feelings 13:17 that we have are also results of sins. 13:19 I think we need to bring it up. 13:21 And the fact that those feelings 13:22 are with the sin is acting on those feelings. 13:25 But like I said, 13:26 there's another part of the community also, 13:28 I guess the "A" in the letters is the Asexual. 13:31 And I guess defining that means as someone 13:34 who is not partial towards any wanting sex at all, 13:38 you know, they have no desire for sex. 13:41 So is there something that's wrong with that? 13:43 And is that spoken about in the Bible? 13:45 Someone want to touch on that? 13:47 I don't think anything is wrong with it, you know, 13:48 Paul talks about... Paul wasn't married, 13:50 and he talks about the fact 13:51 that it's probably better for you 13:53 not to be married especially for the gospel sake 13:55 because there are no hindrances. 13:57 I mean, me personally I can really do without, 13:59 you know, the companionship, I don't know what it's like 14:01 not to feel those feelings. 14:03 But I don't know if we can say something 14:05 is necessarily wrong with that. 14:06 What I said about spiritual prophecies about that. 14:08 Oh, before I jump into that, I wanted to add that asexual, 14:11 it's not that they don't want companionship, 14:13 they do value being in relationships. 14:16 They just don't have any desires for sex 14:19 and being involved sexually. 14:21 They even enjoy romance, that's the issue. 14:24 And I do remember I did some research 14:26 where Ellen White was talking to a young couple 14:28 where the guy made a decision to be a eunuch, 14:32 he removed his private parts and his wife knew this, 14:35 and when they were married together, 14:38 she was having problems with that being the case. 14:40 But Ellen White was suggesting to them 14:42 that this is the good thing, you know, 14:44 the fact that there's no sexual desires for him, 14:46 you guys can be able to focus on the ministry 14:48 and being able to do so much more things 14:50 that other couples cannot be able to do 14:52 because they have children and all these different things 14:54 there is a blessing in being as asexual. 14:57 So if that's the case, you know, if you're asexual, 14:59 do it to the glory of God, you know, 15:01 allow it to be something that you exercise your time 15:05 to bring yourself closer God. 15:06 And ultimately, you know, I'll be honest with you, 15:09 you know, we've all faced that that where, you know, 15:12 sex or even relationships or marriage 15:15 or any aspect of it, takes your mind away 15:18 from what you should be doing or focusing with God. 15:21 So that's a whole lot really 15:23 that we can go into with that one. 15:24 Let's transition here 15:25 and talk a little more about sin. 15:27 I think that some people may wonder, 15:29 Why do, you know, 15:30 these Christians always have to call 15:32 what I'm doing is sin, you know, 15:33 they seem like to have with my actions 15:35 and they're always calling it sin." 15:36 Why do we have to go there? 15:38 Why do we have to make sure we call sin by its right name? 15:41 In this day, you know, in this time during prophecy 15:45 that we read the Bible, in this last day generation, 15:47 why is it important for us as Christians to make sure 15:50 we call out sin and call it by its right name? 15:53 I think the tendency in our post-modern generation 15:57 is to blur the lines 16:00 and so there's no absolute right 16:03 and there's no absolute wrong. 16:05 So I can take what's in the Bible 16:09 and go with it if I choose 16:10 or I cannot go with it if I choose. 16:14 So there's no absolute. 16:16 But God doesn't really operate under no absolutes. 16:20 And so we need to make that clear 16:24 because if we operate under no absolute, 16:27 there is going to come a time when, you know, 16:29 you're going to have to give account. 16:31 And at that point and time, there'll be no excuse. 16:35 So it's not a matter of beating somebody 16:38 over the head with a hammer but the truth of the matter is 16:41 Christ is coming soon. 16:42 Amen. 16:44 And we are being judged right now, you know. 16:46 Bible tells us that Jesus will administer His rewards to us 16:49 when He comes. 16:50 And if He's going to give us rewards 16:52 based on our works, then we are... 16:54 the judgment has to obviously be taken place before He comes. 16:57 And I'm sorry if I can add, even though society 17:01 is pushing towards no absolutes, 17:03 we still function in society under rules and laws. 17:08 And so it's almost as if where it's convenient 17:12 we say no absolutes or where we don't want people 17:14 to interfere with our lives, we say no absolute. 17:18 But in every other aspect, you know, 17:20 we find this concept of right and wrong. 17:23 We'll go to Xavier. 17:24 And it's all and again, 17:26 it's all driven by fear, you know. 17:27 We're afraid of the unknown, we're afraid of 17:28 what we don't know. 17:30 You know, when you know something 17:32 you're comfortable with it, you rather just stay there, 17:35 why go anywhere else? 17:36 And that's the thing that always drives us, you know. 17:38 I'm reminded that, you know, the Book of Judges, you know, 17:42 everybody did was right in their own eyes. 17:44 You know, we have our moral fiber 17:48 as a society has been degraded, deteriorated so much 17:53 that was right as wrong was wrong as right. 17:56 We no longer subscribe to a certain set of rules. 18:01 We do what they call politically correct. 18:04 Only worrying about his feelings. 18:05 Exactly. All right. 18:07 Is there a text that you wanted to bring out this time? 18:09 Yeah, with that I want to... 18:11 there's a text in 1 Corinthians 6. 18:15 1 Corinthians 6:9, it says that, 18:19 "Do you not know that the wicked 18:21 will not inherit the kingdom of God. 18:23 Do not be deceived neither sexually immoral 18:27 nor the adulteress, no adulteress, 18:29 no male prostitutes, no homosexual offenders, 18:32 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkard, nor slanders, 18:36 nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 18:39 And that is what some of you were 18:41 but you were washed, you were sanctified, 18:43 you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 18:46 and by the spirit of our God." 18:47 Amen. Amen. 18:49 As we continue, it's not that we're saying it's a sin 18:54 because we don't want you to have pleasure 18:56 and to have fun because we can all realize 18:59 that these different sense in this whole entire community, 19:03 it does have its benefits. 19:04 But the issue with sin is sin has consequences. 19:09 And that's why we have to call it out sinful 19:11 for what it is that a different consequences 19:13 that these particular sins have is 19:15 you don't have the benefits that your body naturally craves 19:19 for like there's some couples 19:21 that naturally crave for children. 19:24 But because of these relationships, 19:25 you can't have that as a consequence 19:28 or even a different consequences 19:29 of the different diseases or even the fact 19:31 that your body is not supposed to work this way, 19:33 so you get more inclined to be ill or to suffer 19:37 or even to have, you know, surgeries later, 19:39 you didn't even imagine that you would need like 19:42 that's the problem, not just okay don't do it 19:44 because you're going to be condemned to hell. 19:47 Or for some people that might say, 19:48 "I don't even want to really know God like that. 19:49 I don't really want Jesus Christ." 19:51 It's more than just that, there is something that happens 19:55 because of sin that happens in our relationship with others 19:58 in our own personal lives 20:00 that really makes you want to say, 20:02 "No, don't do it. 20:03 It is a sin because of the consequence." 20:05 And also maybe the consequences, 20:07 it separates us from God, 20:08 you know, that's the biggest fear. 20:10 Read your last text for us. 20:12 Yeah, the last one I want to read 20:13 is actually from the Book of Revelation. 20:16 And this is after everybody, you know, 20:17 the kingdom and everything. 20:19 Revelation 22:15 says, "Outside are the dogs, 20:26 those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, 20:30 the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves 20:32 and practices lying." 20:34 And that's so important that verse is brought out 20:36 because, you know, that's why we have pure choices 20:38 because we understand the dire situation we are in 20:41 that we're coming to the last days 20:43 and we know that sexually immoral 20:44 will be outside of the kingdom. 20:46 And so we, you know, have to make sure 20:48 we see the importance of 20:49 what God is trying to help us see 20:51 because He does not want us to be 20:53 outside the kingdom, you know. 20:54 He desperately wants us to be in the kingdom. 20:56 And so He sends us these warning signs 20:58 and that's why, you know, I believe so powerful 21:00 to have a program like Pure Choices 21:01 so we can talk about these things 21:03 because sexual sin is a huge issue 21:06 in the church all together. 21:08 Heterosexual, homosexual whatever it is, 21:10 it is a huge problem that God does not like 21:15 and we have to make sure we are staying close to Him 21:17 so we don't have issues that will come because of sin. 21:21 I know that Douglas just want to talk so. 21:24 Now really quickly I think it needs to be made clear also 21:28 that we are not necessarily the ones calling it sin. 21:34 If we are using the Bible and God's Word as our standard, 21:39 it says it there in. 21:40 And I know within our society today, 21:43 we've also become almost hypersensitive 21:46 where if I am doing wrong 21:48 and Brittany should call me out, 21:50 whether it's a sexual sin or not I get offended 21:53 even though we both claim to believe the same thing 21:58 and she is simply saying what I'm doing. 22:00 And so I think sometimes we need to take a step back 22:03 and realize that... 22:05 first of all, we need to do it in love, 22:07 I think that needs to be understood, 22:09 we need to approach people in love. 22:11 And if and when you are approached, 22:14 realize that, you know, 22:15 what if I'm going according to this, 22:17 the person who is approaching me in love 22:19 has my best interest that heart 22:21 and they are simply trying to help. 22:23 You know, in my experience, I've only gotten offended 22:27 when someone called me out when I knew I was wrong. 22:29 I've never been offended when I know I was right. 22:32 And I'm not saying that, you know, 22:33 I'm not trying to say everybody out there knows 22:35 they are wrong. 22:36 But I do believe that maybe some people fight so hard 22:38 because, you know, they may know 22:40 that something is just not right. 22:41 What I love about the text 22:43 that Professor X reads over there 22:45 is that the text doesn't just say sexual sin 22:48 it actually list a whole bunch of the stuff 22:50 the last way is with lying. 22:52 You know, one of the things 22:53 that we fight with in our church today 22:54 and one of things that, you know, 22:56 this community is fighting for is acceptance. 22:59 And, you know, for with me, I'm thinking, 23:01 "Well, what do you mean by acceptance?" 23:03 You know, do you want us to say. 23:04 "Okay, great. You know, do what you do." 23:06 You know, which to me is actually, you know, 23:08 I really can't talk much against someone 23:10 who is not trying to be a Christian. 23:13 But if you were trying to be a Christian, 23:15 then the definition of acceptance 23:17 is not for me to accept your lifestyle, 23:18 it's for me to accept you, the same way 23:21 that God accepts me when I deal with my sins 23:24 so that I'm not standing outside the world. 23:27 And I think that it's important for the community to know that, 23:30 you know, what motivates us is not we don't like you, 23:33 we don't know you, you know, we hate you. 23:35 The motivation is for someone who saved, the motivation is, 23:39 you know, I have experienced a wonderful salvation 23:42 and I want you to experience it as well. 23:44 And because I know because, you know, 23:46 Bible is my barometer and I know that God says 23:48 this is not going to be in heaven. 23:50 I want to do everything I can to let you know 23:53 so that you can also put yourself 23:54 in a position to be saying. 23:56 Amen. I like that. 23:57 You know, one thing we have to realize too is that, 24:00 you know, God wants us to come as we are 24:01 but not stay as we are. 24:02 You know, a lot of times we see... 24:04 this is something I have to understand that the church, 24:07 we have not created a culture of let us all strive together 24:12 in a community of openness 24:14 to get closer to Christ, you know. 24:16 And let's expose each other sins, 24:17 and talk about what we're struggling with, 24:20 and let's grow together. 24:21 And we've kind of say act like we're perfect 24:22 and things are okay, but all of a sudden 24:24 when there's a "egregious sin" comes about 24:26 we want to, you know, attack that one, 24:28 but because there's no culture of us 24:29 talking about these things together, 24:31 we should have already been talking about the pornography, 24:34 you know, the cheating, the line that we can have 24:37 a discussion to be even 24:39 when homosexuality comes into mix or any other, 24:41 you know, thing that is not a quote in the Word of God. 24:43 So we can all grow together to actually get closer to God 24:47 if we're all striving to be Christians 24:49 and be close to God, 24:50 that must be the culture in the church. 24:52 I think we need to... 24:54 as a church we need to stop trying 24:56 to the work of the trinity of the Holy Spirit. 24:59 We need... 25:00 our job is to be that conduit, We're all coming together, 25:04 it's a beautiful thing, we're all coming together 25:05 to the foot of the Cross, 25:07 we're all coming together to Jesus. 25:09 That's the only one that can change anything, 25:11 that's the only one that can bring unity, 25:13 that's the only one that can do anything 25:15 with what we have. 25:16 You know, we take on the work of the Trinity 25:18 trying to do the changes in every... 25:21 No, we're creating too much work for ourselves. 25:24 Our job is to come together as broken vessels 25:27 to the foot of the cross, come to the feet of Jesus 25:29 and say, "Please, fix us, Lord, 25:31 that we may be in the kingdom with you." 25:33 All right. So let's finish out with this. 25:34 What are the practical things we can talk about 25:37 to really are those in those communities 25:40 we have friends with. 25:41 How can we put them in the right place 25:42 that Trinity can work on them and really show 25:44 that we're not condoning this in 25:46 or condoning the lifestyle but we are actually loving. 25:48 How can we truly show the love that needs to be shown? 25:51 I think as churches, we need to accept people 25:54 for who they and also being very open 25:57 that we don't condone and kind of explaining 25:59 what that means especially that we don't condone our own sins, 26:02 and then we need to start working more as a community. 26:04 This is across the board. 26:06 We need to work more the community 26:07 to be given to the Holy Spirit. 26:09 The disciples had all issues, they had problems, 26:11 and they got an upper room, they prayed together. 26:14 They gave themselves over to the spirit, you know, 26:16 and not because what they necessarily did 26:18 but because they all were there for each other, you know, 26:20 were in community those who is able to move. 26:22 And I believe we just got to open ourselves up 26:24 to that as a community. 26:25 Amen, Brittany. 26:27 As we're moving forward into 26:28 how it's actually love this community. 26:30 We have to realize that we have some myths in our minds, 26:34 we have some assumptions in our minds 26:37 and as we want to go out and embrace people are part 26:41 of the LGBTQIA Community, 26:44 we have to we have to really sit down 26:46 and get educated. 26:47 Yeah. 26:49 Because we can say some really hurtful things 26:51 that makes the person not even want to know Christ. 26:53 They don't even want to come closer to Him, 26:55 they're like, "If that's what God believes 26:57 that I don't really care about that anymore." 26:59 Amen. 27:00 I think as churches, we need to be honest. 27:02 Yeah. 27:03 We need to be honest about how we have treated people 27:05 whether it's sexual sin or any sin, 27:08 we have not created communities that are safe. 27:11 And we need to be honest before we can change. 27:15 Love is a powerful thing, you know, 27:16 Christ loved us even while we were sinners, He held us, 27:19 He died for us while we're sinning 27:21 and so we must learn to love like Christ loves. 27:24 And I know that we probably didn't exhaust 27:26 this entire topic, there's so much more 27:28 we could talk about and even as you've listened 27:29 you probably said there's something 27:31 you would say different or better or a different way. 27:33 But you know what, 27:35 we're all striving to understand 27:36 how to truly love each other 27:38 and that's the kind of conversation 27:39 I'll hope happens at home or in youth groups. 27:41 So God bless you and remember 27:43 always at the end the day to what? 27:44 To make Pure Choices. 27:46 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-01-18