Participants: Steve Wohlberg (Host), Ron Woolsey, Mike Carducci
Series Code: COT
Program Code: COT000007
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00:09 I have a question for you. Are you tempted?
00:12 And if so, is that temptation a sin? 00:16 That's our topic next on Coming Out. 01:05 Welcome back to program seven of Coming Out. 01:07 We are tackling tough topics and we're doing it, 01:11 our goal is to do this compassionately 01:14 and yet without compromise 01:16 as we deal with issues of sexuality, bisexual, 01:19 transgender, homosexuality 01:21 and the Bible and the grace of Jesus Christ. 01:24 Our topic today has to deal with temptation, 01:27 are you tempted? 01:29 And our guests are gentlemen, 01:31 Mike Carducci, Pastor Ron Woolsey. 01:33 You've been with me throughout the series. 01:36 I have co-founders, 01:37 two of the cofounders of Coming Out Ministries 01:40 that has special calling to try to bring clarification 01:43 and help to people that are struggling 01:45 with these issues. 01:47 I've been told that one of the big questions 01:50 that is often asked you, 01:52 now that you have come out of the gay lifestyle is, 01:55 are you still tempted with same sex attraction? 02:00 So I'll just ask you out you know the question 02:02 or why do you get that question anyway? 02:04 Seems like you get a lot, don't you? 02:07 Yes, we do. 02:08 You want to go first? Go ahead, Ron. 02:09 Okay. 02:11 When I came to the Lord 22 years ago, 02:15 I chose a new difference-- a new direction for my life. 02:19 I was baptized 22 years ago but Satan wasn't 02:23 and Satan is the primary source of temptation. 02:26 Of course other people can tempt. 02:27 We're tempted as we're drawn away by our own lust 02:30 but when I accepted Jesus, I was more tempted then ever. 02:36 I doubt with very severe temptation 02:38 after accepting Jesus, that I came away equipped 02:43 as to how to deal with temptations 02:44 so as I never went back in that direction. 02:48 But we cannot always know when temptation is coming, 02:53 and we don't need to be disturbed by it either. 02:57 We have biblical reasons that we will be talking about 02:59 why we don't need to be disturbed by that. 03:02 Mike. Well, I think that-- 03:03 that the general populous out there, 03:05 they want to know you know 03:07 what a redeemed homosexual looks like. 03:10 And you know for so long in Christian culture 03:12 we basically said that, 03:14 number one, that homosexuality can't be healed 03:16 and then on this other side 03:17 when you have people that are coming forward 03:19 that may still have what we called residue, 03:21 you know, we're left over mannerisms 03:24 that would point to a feminine you know qualities. 03:26 You know, how is it that they can say 03:28 that they have overcome homosexuality? 03:31 You know one of the great things is that Ron, 03:33 you know within a year was already in a relationship 03:35 and got married and has a family and grandchildren. 03:38 And yet for me it was a very slow process 03:41 of understanding that. 03:43 When I got baptize, you know, 03:44 I was in a relationship who had a boyfriend 03:46 and I didn't want to give up my identity, 03:48 I didn't even think it was possible. 03:50 I was very comfortable in the lifestyle that I was in, 03:53 but as I kept continually walking with Jesus Christ 03:56 and He started to put before me more truth. 03:58 You know this came-- 03:59 this came at a time when He was willing 04:02 to allow me to make the decision 04:04 and to move forward as I was willing to. 04:06 He didn't push me, He didn't force me 04:08 it was always my choice and so that came longer 04:11 about handing over my attractions 04:13 and recognizing that they want-- 04:16 you know in a line with his will for my life. 04:18 And so for me it's been a slow process 04:21 but what was amazing is to be in my mid 40s 04:23 and finally have my first attraction 04:26 to the opposite sex it was shocking 04:28 and imagine going through puberty twice if you would. 04:32 And so you know 04:33 I think for each one of us, it's a little bit different. 04:35 Our colleague Wayne, you know 04:36 he's been out of the lifestyle for over five years now 04:39 and so he still hasn't experienced that yet. 04:42 But you know that doesn't mean 04:44 that he hasn't redeemed then because he doesn't 04:46 you know act on those impulses or those temptations, 04:50 you know therefore we don't believe 04:53 that we are identified by our temptation 04:55 or identity in Jesus Christ in Him alone. 04:57 Right and this is critical, and will be-- 04:59 will be going deeper into this 05:01 the difference between temptation and sin. 05:05 And before we do that I want to-- 05:07 I want to just show a verse in the book of Mathew, 05:09 because the whole issue of temptation I think is, 05:12 its critical that we first established this. 05:13 Absolutely. 05:14 In Matthew 4:1 the Bible says 05:17 that "Jesus" after his baptism 05:19 "He was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness 05:23 to be tempted by the devil." 05:26 So there is the word tempted right there in the Bible 05:28 and we know that the ultimate source of temptation 05:32 according to this verse is the devil himself. 05:34 Now as I look back on my life before I became a Christian, 05:38 during my teenage, what I called my B.C years, 05:41 a before Christ when I was just living a wild life 05:44 I didn't struggle with same sex attraction 05:46 but I had whole host in other problems. 05:50 But as I look back on that 05:52 the word temptation just you know 05:54 it was totally foreign to me. 05:55 I didn't relate to it and even think about it. 05:58 I didn't know that I was being tempted 06:00 and I think that's the way it is with most people 06:02 they just do things or follow, 06:05 you know, their hearts or what's around them 06:08 and they don't even think about the devil temptation. 06:11 In my mind, the whole idea of temptation 06:14 coming from Satan is a-- it's something 06:18 that you have to have a spiritual perception of, 06:22 in order to really even deal with the issue at all. 06:26 You know, wouldn't you agree with that? 06:27 Right, so Steve, the same thing for you would apply to us. 06:31 The minute I was baptize it wasn't holy water, 06:33 I didn't come out of there and you know 06:35 I was straight and ready to do all those kind of things. 06:38 And so anyone knows 06:39 that 15 minutes after you've been baptized 06:41 you realize that-- 06:42 the God didn't wash away or memory or a history. 06:45 All of that is still intact 06:46 but what He asks us to do is to start to understand 06:50 the process of admitting our temptations 06:53 and submitting them to Him 06:54 because He knows that we're not 06:56 capable of overcoming of our own temptations. 06:59 It's that process of trusting Him, 07:01 and learning how to do this 07:03 so that we can gain the victory over our sin. 07:05 And so, even after you're baptize, 07:06 Steve, and I would even go as far as to say today 07:09 that you still struggle 07:10 with some type of temptations over something. 07:12 Sure, sure and just like Jesus, 07:13 when He was baptized then He was tempted, 07:15 I'm sure He was tempted prior to that too. 07:16 Oh, I love that. 07:17 But for me it wasn't until 07:19 really after I gave my heart to Christ, 07:20 after I as you said admit it, 07:22 I admit it and then I submit it to Him and then I was baptized. 07:26 That's when, that's when the battles really intensified. 07:30 Oh, when we are baptized, 07:31 Satan realizes he's lost one of his own 07:35 and he doubles down. 07:36 I mean it's not uncommon 07:38 for him to really come at you in a very heavy handed way, 07:41 to try to get you back. 07:43 That's right, so, Pastor Ron, you've mentioned to me that, 07:46 that from your study of the Bible, 07:48 there are three major sources of temptations, 07:52 just go through those quickly. 07:53 Well, we will refer to them earlier a little bit 07:56 that we are drawn away 07:58 and tempted and drawn away by the lust of our own heart. 08:01 I think James talks about that. 08:03 We are tempted by other people 08:05 as in the case of Adam and Eve and tempting love of Jesus. 08:08 Right, well-- Yeah with Eve ate first-- 08:11 Right, tempted Adam. She offered Adam, 08:12 she became a tempter to her husband. 08:14 Right, and then of course 08:16 Satan is the source of all temptations. 08:19 As it says here in Matthews 4. 08:20 Right, and I believe 08:21 that from the time we are conceived 08:23 Satan has a customized plan for our lives 08:26 just as Jesus does He-- 08:28 before He formed us in the belly He knows us. 08:31 And so Satan comes at us with what his plan is 08:37 and he doesn't give up on that plan very easily. 08:40 So temptation comes from the Bible? 08:41 I mean not from the Bible, in the Bible, 08:43 the Bible tells us temptation comes from Satan. 08:45 Right.It comes from Satan working through people. Yes. 08:48 And then it comes from our own like James 1:14 says 08:52 we're drawn away by our own lusts and we're enticed. 08:57 I've been reading quite a bit 09:00 to equipped myself to get ready for the series, 09:03 because I don't have that background 09:04 and I want to know as much as I can to be, 09:07 you know informed on this topics. 09:10 And I have read a number of testimonies 09:14 from different men, 09:16 who have said that a long time ago 09:20 they discovered that they had same sex attractions for men 09:24 or a female for a women, 09:26 and they didn't like these attractions, 09:29 they didn't want them 09:30 and they prayed that God would take them away 09:33 and after may be five years of wrestling with this 09:37 and the fact that they were still there 09:39 they finally just gave up and said, 09:42 I'm just I'm going with this. 09:44 And I think there is, you know, 09:46 aren't there a lot of people out there 09:47 that because they have these temptations these attractions 09:52 then they just feel like 09:55 there's no hope for them because they're still there 09:57 and then they take the plunge. 09:59 Well, that was my story. 10:01 I mean, I graduated from college 10:02 with a degree in theology, 10:03 but still wrestling with these thoughts 10:06 and temptations in my mind 10:07 and I prayed for years 10:09 that the Lord would take this away from me, 10:11 and He didn't, so I began to blame Him, 10:15 I gave up on Him. 10:16 When I stopped praying about it and I started blaming Him, 10:20 then I fell into it. 10:21 I had no protection anymore. 10:23 But I had that same misconception 10:27 that I was polluted and corrupted 10:28 by the nature of my temptations 10:30 and I thought that I was this way because of temptation. 10:33 It was years later that I'd-- 10:36 and through my study that I discovered 10:38 that I gave up on God, He didn't gave up on me. 10:42 Now, it looks like the same. 10:43 At 17-years-old I prayed that God would take my life, 10:46 I still was struggling with fantasy and masturbation 10:49 and I believe that the God was limited in His ability 10:52 to help me out of the thing that I was praying for. 10:54 What was so profound to me is as I was about 43 years old, 10:58 three years after that I've been baptized 10:59 that I was telling somebody, 11:00 how I prayed that God would take my life 11:02 and I thought because He was in different to me 11:04 or that He didn't care that He just let me live 11:07 and didn't heal me. 11:08 And so at 20 years old I walked away from church culture 11:11 and I said that's it, you know I can't do this anymore. 11:14 What was so amazing is that when God did address 11:17 fantasy, pornography addiction and all that, 11:19 I realize that 43 years old that God did hear my prayer 11:23 and He knew that I wasn't ready to be taken at 17 years old 11:27 then that He was going to let out the rope if you would, 11:29 and I was going to go through 11:31 20 years of sexual sin and degradation. 11:34 But at 43 years old when I realized that 11:37 that God indeed did hear my prayer and answered that 11:40 as He was able to take away the temptation 11:44 and the addictive psycho for me. 11:47 And so I see that I was praying for the wrong thing. 11:50 It wasn't an issue of being straight 11:52 that was just a consequence of the brokenness 11:55 that had began with me even before I was conscious 11:57 from the rejection of my father and my rejection of him. 12:01 And so I think that's a problem that that many people face. 12:04 How wonderful that we have the opportunity now 12:06 to encourage somebody 12:08 who is still struggling with same sex attraction 12:10 that your temptation is not sin. 12:12 And if Jesus himself was on the cross 12:14 and still tempted then pretty much as telling us 12:17 that we're gonna experience temptation until, 12:20 until that process is being completed. 12:22 So I don't acknowledge or make my identity 12:26 about my temptation 12:28 and as long as I understand what that differences is 12:30 and for 13 years I haven't had anybody in my bed 12:33 and so why would I want to be connected to the past 12:36 because the Lord says that, all things are passed away, 12:39 behold all things had become new 12:41 and so my identity is in Jesus Christ today 12:44 and so temptation does come 12:46 but its how we manage it that makes it difference. 12:48 It's learning that relationship. 12:51 And I think-- I'm sorry. 12:53 I was gonna say that in my study of the Bible 12:55 I've never found any place where we are promised 12:59 that Jesus will remove temptation. 13:02 What He promises is grace 13:04 sufficient to deal with temptation. 13:06 I think as I've pondered this it seems to me 13:08 that a critical issue is the difference 13:12 between temptation and sin. 13:15 So why not Pastor Ron, 13:16 I know you've got some verses in Hebrews, 13:18 you want to really focus on to establish that 13:22 and then we can draw the lessons from that. 13:25 Well, when I was in the world and trying to study, 13:28 work out my own salvations with fear and trembling 13:31 I came across these passages 13:32 and they gave me wonderful hope and courage. 13:35 First of all Hebrews 4:12 13:39 "For we have not an high priest 13:41 which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, 13:44 but was in all points tempted like as we are, 13:47 yet without sin." 13:50 When I read that I realized temptation is not sin, 13:54 I threw in the towel years ago over temptation, 13:57 I had never even willingly participate in this. 14:00 Did you say verse 12? 14:02 Verse 15. Verse 15. 14:03 Yes, it's Hebrews 4:15 14:07 and as I was sharing my testimony with a professor 14:10 at a university a theological professor. 14:13 One time I shared my testimony and I shared this verse. 14:17 And he looked at me in shock, and he said 14:20 you don't mean to tell me, 14:22 you think Jesus was tempted like that, do you? 14:25 And I just looked right back at him and I said, 14:27 well, how do you think Jesus was tempted? Like you? 14:31 Yeah, was He tempted with your temptation? 14:33 Well, that's not fair. Or with mine? 14:34 That's right. That wouldn't be fair. 14:36 I said either I don't want to get into 14:39 all of the details about what this means 14:41 but please don't take this text away from me. 14:44 This text gave me what I needed 14:46 along with Hebrews 2:18 that tells us 14:53 "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, 14:57 he is able to succour or assist them that are tempted." 15:00 That told me that Jesus struggled with temptation 15:03 and that's what we've done, 15:05 you know, in our past we really struggled with this issue 15:08 and so it's okay to be tempted. 15:10 It's okay to struggle with it, 15:12 that still doesn't mean that you're involved in sin. 15:16 And then when I read Hebrews 12:4 15:23 talking about Jesus, referring to Jesus it says here 15:29 "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, 15:32 striving against sin." 15:33 In another words you, like Jesus 15:36 did resists under blood striving against sin. 15:39 And we haven't done that yet. 15:40 And that told me that Jesus suffered 15:43 and struggled where temptation 15:45 until His last breath on the cross. 15:48 I have not-- 15:50 I have not chosen at this point to die rather than sin, 15:54 I've not been faced with that, 15:55 with that option or that, 15:58 that struggle or that situation, 16:01 but Jesus chose to die rather than healed. 16:06 So as I put these three texts together about Jesus 16:09 I realized I can trust this man with my life, 16:13 with my salvation He understands me, 16:15 He understands the nature of my temptations. 16:18 He has the answers, 16:19 He has strength, He promises to give me that strength. 16:23 And so this tells me clearly temptation is not sin. 16:28 Yeah, to me that is just a critical truth, 16:31 and it's right there that Jesus himself 16:33 was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. 16:40 We know we all have a flesh, we have these natural desires 16:43 and these natural desires 16:44 manifest themselves in different way, 16:46 different ways for different people. 16:48 But if Jesus was tempted but He didn't sin, 16:54 then its obvious that we can be tempted as well, 16:58 with whatever desires or whether its Satan directly, 17:02 whether its from within Satan working from within, 17:05 through people whatever the temptation is 17:08 unless we yield to that temptation 17:11 we are not guilty in the sight of God, 17:14 and I think about as I told you, 17:17 you know our temptations, 17:18 your at least your past temptations, 17:20 my past temptations and I still have temptations. 17:23 And you know one of the points we want to stress is 17:25 that everybody is tempted. 17:26 We're all tempted in different ways, 17:28 my temptations have been different. 17:30 I'm now married, I'm happily married man, 17:32 I love my wife and I'm faithful to her, 17:35 but that doesn't mean that I might not 17:39 run into another woman and look at her 17:42 and recognize that she is an attractive woman. 17:45 And there may be a temptation 17:48 to think more thoughts than that. 17:51 I think it was Martin Luther, who once said 17:53 "You can't stop the birds from flying over your head, 17:56 but they don't have to make a nest in your hair." 17:58 That's right. 17:59 And so just because I still maybe tempted by another woman, 18:06 or you know somebody else, 18:08 may be you might be tempted by another man, 18:11 temptation is temptation. 18:12 But if I choose not to yield to that temptation 18:17 I haven't sinned, I haven't done wrong 18:19 and I think it applies both ways. 18:20 You know whether same sex attraction, 18:22 whether it is opposite sex attraction, 18:24 whatever kind of attraction it is temptation is not a sin. 18:29 So Steve, what you said was so profound 18:32 and I just want to add to that when we do presentations 18:35 what's so profound is people come up to us and they go, 18:38 oh, this isn't a gay thing. 18:40 If they say that you know 18:41 even heterosexual men will come up and say they-- 18:43 that they have the same problem that, 18:45 you know they have to submit there temptations also 18:48 when they see a woman that's attractive or whatever. 18:51 And so it's not whether it's gay or straight. 18:54 Even a woman, take a woman that was married for 15 years 18:57 and that her passes away. 18:59 You know she was used to experiencing the gift of 19:02 sexual intercourse with her husband 19:04 she is entitled to that right. 19:06 But because she is alone now 19:07 does not entitle her to take on lovers. 19:10 God tells us that we have to, discipline the flesh. 19:15 He gave us attractions, 19:16 He gave the ability to touch 19:19 and to hold someone sexually as a gift, right, 19:22 something to be experience 19:24 but He said that there's a way to experience that, 19:26 and none of us whether would gay or straight 19:28 or allowed to go outside of that boundaries, 19:30 because it hurts other people and it hurts us. 19:33 That's right, you know I think that 19:34 if Adam and Eve had never sinned 19:35 and they populated the earth 19:37 and they were other couples just like them, 19:39 I don't think they would have been tempted at all 19:41 with looking at you know on other attractive men 19:43 or other attractive women 19:45 but that temptation would have been there. 19:46 But now that they've sinned and we all-- 19:49 have all inherited a fallen nature from them, 19:52 you know we're gonna have those temptations, 19:54 whether there are same sex 19:55 or whether they are for man for a woman, 19:56 or a woman for a man, woman for a women, 19:58 or a man for a man. 19:59 It's all part of the current of temptations 20:04 that comes from the fall. 20:06 And what may be the cause of all that you know, 20:09 its still kind of after grabs whether it's in genes 20:11 or whether it's the nature or whether its environment, 20:14 whether its Hollywood, whatever it is 20:15 and we have a program coming up called the blame game 20:18 and we'll discuss that more and carefully 20:21 but the bottom line is that, 20:24 whatever the temptation it still is a temptation 20:28 and its not a sin. 20:30 And so if someone asked you the question, 20:33 are you still tempted? 20:35 Even if you were to say yes, 20:37 that I'm still tempted sometimes. 20:39 Yes. 20:40 By same sex attraction, 20:41 it doesn't mean you committed a sin. 20:43 Right, I think that the people really want to know 20:45 and I think they're entitled to know 20:47 that I still have same sex temptation 20:50 and I was explaining earlier, 20:52 you know I rejected my father as my male role model. 20:54 I was desperate for male love 20:56 and the only way that I knew how to get that 20:58 was in a broken way and that was through sex with man. 21:01 And so even though God doesn't take away my history, 21:04 He doesn't take my memory away, 21:06 but what He asked me to do is to submit it to Him 21:08 and to His authority. 21:09 And so He didn't say that I'm gonna have 21:11 a temptation free life 21:12 but He gave me the opportunity to experience what its like 21:15 when I admit my temptation 21:17 and if I can submit it to Him then He covers it. 21:20 He covers it with His blood because He overcame all sin. 21:23 And so as I have learned this process and it wasn't pretty, 21:27 it was pretty messy for awhile, 21:28 but as I learned this process of admitting 21:30 what my temptations was, 21:32 and submitting it to my higher authority 21:34 He started to give me relief 21:35 and as I experience that relief, 21:37 like exercising a muscle, 21:39 what used to be a tsunami that would have over take me, 21:41 now its nothing more than that I can swat away. 21:44 And that's the process I believe 21:46 that the Lord is bringing us through, 21:48 but you know, I would be-- 21:50 I would be lying to say that that was a past temptation. 21:53 But what I'm learning how to do is that take the temptation 21:55 and submit them to Jesus and He covers then for me. 21:58 And when I feel the most tempted 22:01 is when I feel emasculated 22:03 or when I feel like I'm not man enough for that-- 22:06 that was when I don't feel that I more thee. 22:09 And so I go to God and I prayed and I said Lord, 22:12 can You remind me again that You made me male, 22:14 can You remind me again that I'm Your man. 22:16 And what happens is He takes that away, 22:18 and He satisfies me and reminds me again 22:20 that indeed according to Genesis 22:22 that He made the male and female, 22:24 and He confirms to me that He knew me 22:26 even before the earth was formed 22:28 and you know it goes, its gone. 22:30 Yeah, its just one more second, 22:32 Ron, its critical here again this text says 22:34 that Jesus was tempted in all points 22:37 like we are and yet without sin. 22:39 So that shows that just because you are tempted, 22:41 you are not defined, 22:43 you are not defined by your temptation. 22:45 Whether you know my temptations, 22:46 your temptations whatever the temptations 22:48 and we all have temptations. 22:50 We're not defined by our temptation, 22:53 we're defined by the choice 22:55 whether we're gonna yield to that temptation 22:58 or whether we're gonna submit our lives to God and say no. 23:02 Okay, Ron. 23:03 You know, conventional thinking today 23:05 is really contrary to biblical principles. 23:09 For example conventional thinking says, 23:11 once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. 23:14 Once a pedophilia always a pedophilia. 23:17 Once a gay, always gay. 23:20 But Jesus himself says 23:22 if the sun therefore is set you free, you are free indeed. 23:27 And I think the reasons Steve, 23:30 this question keeps coming up 23:31 is because of conventional thinking. 23:34 And people sometimes-- the question comes up 23:38 as an entrapment questions 23:39 sometimes it's a genuine question 23:41 people really want to know. 23:43 So often it comes from conventional thinking that 23:46 if you are ever tempted in this way, 23:48 then you are stilled of that orientation. 23:51 You haven't been changed. 23:52 And they're not realizing the beauty of the gospel 23:56 that if the Son therefore set you free, 23:59 you are free indeed. 24:01 Temptations may come and go, 24:03 but God graces sufficient for every one of them. 24:05 That's right, and whatever 24:06 the nature of the temptation is, 24:08 and that's what we need to understand 24:10 according to the Bible. 24:11 That we are tempted, and the temptations 24:14 you know people they prayed for five years God change me, 24:16 and they still were tempted then they felt well, 24:18 He didn't answer my prayer, 24:19 but the reality is that they God doesn't promise 24:22 to take away all temptation. 24:23 He doesn't promise to take away the flesh, 24:26 Jesus was tempted all through out His life but He said no. 24:30 And we will still be tempted, we're all tempted 24:32 in one way or another 24:34 and we're gonna be tempted all the way 24:35 until you know the very end 24:38 or at least right before the end 24:39 when the door is closed 24:41 but we've leaned how to deal with temptation 24:44 and that's the critical point. 24:45 We've learned that our temptations don't define us, 24:48 that they come from the devil 24:50 or from the flesh or from the world 24:52 or from people that Satan is using 24:54 but we have learned to submit those temptations to God. 24:58 As the Bible says in James Chapter 4 25:00 I believe it is, "Submit to God, 25:02 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." 25:04 Exactly. 25:05 We've learned to say no, 25:07 and that's what God is looking for. 25:08 He's looking for people that are willing to choose 25:11 to say no and to surrender to Him and those that do that 25:15 they can have the forgiveness and the grace and the power 25:20 and the peace of Jesus Christ in their life, 25:23 and a clean conscience which is a wonderful thing. 25:25 You know, I used to be a pilot, and I never let the crosswind, 25:29 the headwind, the tailwind 25:30 or the violent storm determine where I landed. 25:33 And as Christians we need not let the tailwind, 25:36 the headwind, the crosswinds or the violent storms of Satan 25:39 determine our journey and our destination either. 25:46 That's true, that's great. 25:47 We all need that. This is critical. 25:50 As we get down near the end, 25:51 let's take a look at one more verse 1 Corinthians 10:13, 25:56 1 Corinthians 10:13 I thinks its so powerful 26:00 and you know I think like I said, 26:01 like we've said, I think a lot of people 26:03 you know think because certain people have 26:04 same sex attractions that they are in a category 26:08 that's so totally different from them, 26:11 but we all have to realize 26:12 that maybe your temptation is not my temptation 26:15 but I'm tempted too and we all temptations. 26:17 That's right. 26:18 And they all come from the flesh 26:19 or the devil or the world 26:21 and we all have responsibility to God to say no, 26:25 I'm not gonna do it. 26:26 1 Corinthians 10:13 the Bible says 26:30 " There is no temptation that has overtaken you 26:34 but such as is common to man," we all have temptations, 26:39 whatever they are, "but God is faithful," 26:41 this is the key, "God is faithful 26:43 and he will not allow you to be tempted 26:45 above that which you are able, 26:47 but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, 26:51 that you may be able to bear it." 26:54 The Bible does not say, that God is going to remove 26:57 all temptations from your life 26:59 but He does say that He is faithful 27:01 and He will give you the power 27:03 and He will give you the strength 27:05 so that you will not buckle under to that temptation. 27:08 That is what God is looking for in people today, 27:11 men, women, children He is looking for all of us 27:14 to take a stand to say no 27:15 that we're gonna follow His word 27:17 and not yield to temptation. 27:20 If you would like to order the 13 part Coming Out series 27:23 for $34.95 plus shipping, call 1-800-782-4253 27:28 or write to White Horse Media, PO Box 1139, 27:31 Newport, Washington, 99156. 27:34 Pastor Ron Woolsey, Dwayne Blakely 27:36 and Mike Carducci are each available 27:38 to conduct a seminar in your area. 27:40 To schedule a speaking engagement, 27:42 contact Coming Out Ministries 27:43 by calling 360-936-8514 27:47 or visit comingoutministries.org. |
Revised 2015-02-19