Just visited your site...may the Lord be with you.

I think you may be missing the point just a little bit.

Your site issues a loud condemnation of homosexuality in the Emperors New Clothes.

The first quote that comes to mind:- "Why do you look at the specks in your brothers eye while ignoring the logs in your own !"

Second quote:-

Jesus to Mary Magdelene, after the mob have disappeared as they were about to stone her to death:-

"The others condemn you: but I do not condemn you. You are forgiven."

Third point, and the most crucial as far as you are concerned:- "You d'ont pour new wine into old wineskins - the skins will burst ! And you d'ont patch up an old jacket with a new cloth !" ( - Or is this one of the ones you ignored ?)

Now I hope you understand what Jesus means by this !

Finally, I would like you to e-mail me and please tell me the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Afterall, I persume one testimony is called "old" and the other "new" for a reason - and possibly a good one !

Good Luck

******(also ps..."and so my friends, let us ignore the foolishness of trying to be saved by trying to be good instead of being saved by faith in Jesus Christ..." - Now, have I just made that up or is it from the Bible ?

Hi ******,

Thanks for visiting my site and reading my essay. I appreciate your comments and respect them.

Your first comment brought up the quote about the speck in my brother's eye while ignoring the log in my own. I agree with you that we should all be prepared to evaluate our own motives - to judge ourselves and accept correction from God to help us remove the logs in our own eyes.

The reason why I am forced to deal with this particular issue of homosexuality is based in part on Hebrews 3:7-13. Paul is telling us here that we are to "exhort" or admonish one another daily so that the hearts of those we love are not hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

If my life was my own, I would probably be the first one to say, "Live and let live." However, in obedience to the Word of God and to the Holy Spirit, I wrote this essay a few years ago, then (with some reluctance, I admit) published it on my Web Site. If just one person who is living a homosexual life, knowingly hardening his heart against the will of God, reads this essay and rethinks his lifestyle, then turns to God and away from that life, then I will have done what God has asked of me, not because I think I'm any better than anyone else.

Next point, when Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery, he not only forgave her, but told her to "go and sin no more." Can we do any less? In this essay, I exhort, in the spirit of forgiveness and love and then extend rational, logical, moral and Godly reasons why those who call themselves homosexual should no longer sin.

As to the question of the new wine into the old bottles and the new cloth becoming part of the old garment, Jesus was speaking of the practice of the pharisees and John's disciples fasting when he and his disciples did not fast. Today we look at this parable as referring to the reborn spirt, born of Christ, not being able to continue in the old religious ways. You may want to reread this parable in Matthew 9:14-17. I am sorry to say I could not follow your reasoning as to how this parable would refer to the reborn, forgiven, sinless spirit of the Living Christ being a part of anything homosexual.

As to your question, whether rhetorical, legitimate or sarcastic, asking if I could tell you the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament - I will be glad to share what I have learned. Each of the testaments refers to the covenants with God. In the Old Testament, the covenant (or will of God) which God made with Abraham was made by the blood of animals - Genesis 15. The sacrifice of an animal became the covering for sin until that time when God's perfect sacrifice, the Messiah, Christ, His Son, Jesus was manifested and became the New and Better Covenant in that sin was no longer just covered, but removed forever. In essence, our loving Father recognizes our sin and gives us a way to escape from it and subsequently,eternal death, both in the Old Testament through the covering blood of animals and in the New Testament through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.

You might want to refresh your memory by reading Luke 15. This is where Jesus shares with us the story of the prodigal son. He tells us in verse 7 and again in verse 10 that Heaven rejoices over those who repent. We should always remember that repentance goes beyond sorrow of sin. Repentance is turning away from sin.

Yes, ******, we are saved by His Grace through faith in Jesus Christ and I praise God for it. Our works will not save us. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Now, if Jesus is our Lord and we are saved, if Jesus is The Word (John I) and He tells us to "Go and sin no more," then do we advocate a sinful lifestyle through our silence? Do we continue to participate in sin through our hardheartedness?

Let me close with this verse from James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

Thank you, ******, for your letter. I hope I have helped to clear up some understandable misconceptions you may have had. I promise you that I will renew my inward spirit day by day so that I am careful to keep the logs out of my eyes. I hope you will do the same and feel free to write anytime.

Merrellee Moore

******, thank you for asking. No Jesus was not a homosexual. He lived his life in complete obedience to His Father's Word which we learn in the Books Moses gave us, that is - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In Leviticus 18:22 we read that, "man shall not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is an abomination."

Jesus, during his lifetime here on earth, demonstrated no proclivity toward homosexuality, although we learn that when he was in the wilderness he was "tempted in all things like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15. We can take that to mean that Satan, in the wilderness, probably put every evil thought we could ever imagine into Jesus' mind, trying to get him to commit sin. But Jesus refused those thoughts and resisted temptation by telling Satan over and over, "It is written." Since we know that Jesus' only written resource of God's Word was what we know as the Old Testament, we know he was referring to those words which God gave Moses which included not only the Ten Commandments, but also many other commandments such as that which I quoted above from Leviticus.

We can Thank God today that we not only have the same ammunition that Jesus had to use against Satan, we also have the Salvation of Jesus on the Cross, the Holy Spirit, the Gospel written about Jesus by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the letters, or epistles, of Paul to the churches which he had started and the other books of the New Testament, confirming and building on the Words of the Old Testament.

Just as Jesus did, we have the Word of God to fill our hearts so that sin cannot enter in to cause torment and death and eventually eternal separation from our Father. Jesus himself tells us in Matthew 12:35 that "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things." ******, good men are those who, like Jesus, have been tempted - whether by homosexuality, pornography, gluttony, lust, alcoholism, etc. - and have met every temptation by saying to Satan, as Jesus did, "It is written." Matthew 4:4, 7. Satan cannot fight against the Word. That is why we call Satan the defeated foe. Revelations 19:20. We are promised in James 4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

******, those who have given their lives to Jesus and declare Him as Lord, turn to the written Word which IS Jesus (John I) to resist every temptation Satan brings against us. Jesus told us we would have tribulation in the world (things of the world) (John 16:33) but that we are to, "be of good cheer." He has overcome the World.

I look forward to hearing from you again - anytime.

Peace be with you ******,

Merrellee

In Genesis 2:17 God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil for on that day they would surely die. God did not create abominations, but He knows of them and knows what they are. They are our own creations.

Abominations, as referred to in the Bible, are purely and simply, acts of sin or disobedience to God. I believe the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil was the knowing that one can obey or disobey God as we choose. We would certainly have an easier life if we were little more than robots - having no choice - but then we wouldn't truly be God's loving Children. Choosing God and choosing to obey Him because we love Him.

In Deuteronomy 28, in the first 14 verses, we are promised such powerful and amazing blessings if we always listen carefully to the inner leading of God's voice and learn and do all those commandments which He has given us for our own good, we will be blessed (empowered and prospered) in every way. In the rest of chapter 28, another 54 verses, we are told all the bad things which will happen if we don't obey His commandments. In other words, if we commit the sins we're capable of committing, every terrible thing we could ever imagine will come upon us.

God didn't tell us these blessings and cursings to be mean or to withhold any good thing. He simply promises rewards for obedience and punishment for disobedience because He wants to make it easy for us to choose to obey before we get into serious trouble. In Chapter 30 of Deuteronomy, verse 19, He says it very simply, "...I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live:..." It's an open-book test. Choose life - not sin. Choose to obey God because His commandments are born of love for us - Sin is of Satan and Satan's hatred of God.

And as if that wasn't Loving enough, "God so loved the World (those who chose sin) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus came and died on the cross, which represents that very same tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for those very people who chose not to obey, whether out of ignorance or willfulness. This is the good news, that Jesus took the sin of our choosing to do abominations so that we do not have to suffer the eternal consequences of those abominations - which is Hell.

No, God did not create abominations. We did. We need to choose not to act on sin but on obedience because we know that sin creates death (eternal damnation) and obedience creates joyful abundant life.

Your skirting nicely around the hub of the issue !

You call me a hypocrite for daring to challenge your stance on homosexulaity but you and all the churches have condemned people like me throughout the ages and turned us away from faith in Jesus.

However, I count myself lucky in that my faith is now in good soil.

Despite the attacks of the churches I now believe.

You see, many gay people turn away from God because the established churches say homosexuailty as an abomination. Why then, did Jesus say "...some people are not capable of getting married" ?

The churches say "....but you c'ant have God without us, accepting what we say, doing it the way we do etc." What hypocrites !

Anyway, I now wish to speak very honestly to you. Please read all of what follows:

You Merrellee, are my enemy here on earth.

This is honestly how I feel about the situation. However, I am praying for you and me that Jesus will solve are difficulty.

Somehow, I get the feeling my prayer will be answered.

Love

******

******, I am always pleased to answer as many questions as I can if you don't mind my adherance to the Word - which sometimes leads to truth which is difficult to accept.

We need to be careful about generalizing - that is lumping people together in one catagory for the sake of convenience. In His Word, God shows us over and over again that we are not to judge others. This is what Jesus was explaining in His parable of the Log in one's own eye.

******, only God knows the heart of each individual person and in these churches which you are so quick to condemn are people of all levels of faith - each doing the best he can. Each serving God as fully and completely as she is able. Mrs. Tanner might be so pleased to be asked to bring her special cakes (although she might fuss a bit that they're never quite right so we can reassure her they're always wonderful). Mr. Hanson is always so businesslike about taking care of the various repair projects around the church even though he seems like an old "sourpuss" when he seems to be the only one to get things done. Miss Jenkins has been taking care of the youth group for years and now she's taking care of the new passel of children coming along and sometimes she feels a bit overwhelmed and a little overlooked, but she keeps coming because she knows the church depends on her.

******, these fictional people I have invented demonstrate the individuality and the childlike trust in God that we each should have, accepting God's reassurance that He knows we're all doing the best we can. We all have the capacity to be hypocritical, to think better of ourselves than we ought. To God, we're all like little Children, sometimes fussing with each other, often dispairing secretely that we'll never be as good as we should be.

In the churches, both protestant and Catholic, Jewish or Jehovah's Witness, we all seek to know God better, to serve Him more completely. Most of us have learned that Salvation is truly the free gift of God, but we want to be more deserving of that gift anyway. In most of the churches I've been to, the homosexual, the couple living together out of wedlock, the reformed convict, the alcoholic, the adulterer, the man who secretely hides his pornographic magazines and many others like them are lovingly welcomed. If there are one or two people there who are not as welcoming because they think they are better or somehow deserve more because of their outward appearance of righteousness, then we have to leave them to God who knows their hearts. He knows when they will be ready to learn.

What we need to be more aware of than anything is the fact that in church or not, God wants the very best for us - that is to be free of sin through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The Word Christ is not Jesus' last name, you know. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah which is the Hebrew word for The Annointed One. Jesus was annointed with the burden-removing, yoke-destroying power of God. God wants us to be free of the burdens of our own sins, even the sin of hyprocrisy. He wants our yokes which have been put on us by Satan removed, even the yoke of homosexuality. God wants us whole and free but we can only be whole and free through Him.

As to your request that I define sin, I point you once again to James 4:17, "to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Sin is this: not doing what you know is right, or doing what you know is wrong. Right and wrong are both made very clear in the Word of God. We are all capable of sin, even Priests and nuns, even Preachers and teachers. We resist sin in its various forms daily, even if that resistance takes no other form than looking away from lurid magazines at the supermarket checkout stand.

******, one thing I've learned is to look at my fellow man with all the love I can, to go into a busy store or walk down a crowded street or sit in a noisy restaurant and let myself fall in love with every one I see, to make myself available to God to demonstrate His Love as much as I can. I know I'll get annoyed sometimes or feel selfish sometimes or even be hypocritical sometimes, but I know God knows my heart and he knows I'm doing the best I can.

I won't be at my computer again until next Tuesday or Wednesday but I invite any further questions you may have then.

Peace in Christ,

Merrellee