Love Wins

A couple of years ago a guy whom I will call Sam went into the local Family Christian Bookstore to look for a gift. Sam was about 30 years old at the time, single, and gay. As he was heading to the checkout line he noticed a painting of Jesus that was displayed on the wall. While he was looking at the picture he started to cry - didn't know why he was crying, had no apparent reason to be crying but he just couldn't stop.

Standing behind him in line was a lady who asked Sam if he was alright. Sam told her that it just happened when he started looking at the painting of Jesus. The lady said a few kind words to Sam and invited him to her church. Sam came the next Sunday, the lady introduced him to a few people including the pastor, Sam came again the next week and he surrendered his life to Jesus.

A few weeks later Sam noticed a few strange changes. The color of the bedroom in his apartment was lavender and he didn't like the color anymore. He went out to lunch with a friend and thought the waitress was attractive. He had never had that kind of feeling for any woman before.

A couple of months later he attended a Freedom In Christ workshop where one of the counselors was an elder at the church he was now attending regularly. Freedom In Christ is a deliverance ministry based on the ministry of Neil Anderson, an evangelical pastor. A lot of times when a person experiences trauma or great fear, commits certain types of sin or feels greatly rejected, perhaps even as an unwanted infant in the womb, these events create openings for evil spirits to latch onto an individual.

A normal session involves going through certain areas of a person's life, identifying what the Word of God says about those areas and letting the Holy Spirit reveal to the person if this is an area that needs attention. If it is the person will verbalize that they agree with the wisdom that was given from scripture, will confess any part they might have had opposed to the will of God in that area and will renounce the action or thought and will forgive anyone else who may have wronged them in that area. This destroys most footholds that evil spirits have and they often leave as easy as breathing out a little bad gas. The final step for the counselor is to provide the person solid scripture based advice on how to stay free.

Usually, because everyone's life is complicated there are several sessions needed to fully cover everything. With Sam it was different. The spiritual oppressions were very deep and intertwined and there were a lot of tears and emotions. Most of the other counselors had never seen any thing quite like it. The session went on for over 6 hours and by the end of it Sam was more free than he had ever been.

Personally I have not met Sam but I do know the lady who was behind Sam at the checkout counter, the pastor and the elder. The reason I share this today is because homosexual, transgender and any other side area of the LBGT world and lifestyle have at their root a spiritual deception that leads away from the will of God and toward misery, inprisionment and finally death. My heart aches for all those so bound as well as for those who go beyond love and acceptance of the person and think that by approving of that life style they are adding something positive.

I will not give here a listing of all that the Word of God says about homosexual activity. It should simply be enough to say that scripture from beginning to end is consistent in saying that ANY sexual activity outside of a marriage between a man and a woman is not the will of God. Desires, no matter how early evidenced, do not change the Word of God.

There is a lie, crafted by the enemy, that portrays God as angry and distant. The enemy tells us that God does not want us to be happy while at the same time making sure that we feel condemned and powerless. The enemy imparts fear and then uses that very fear to drive us away from the love of God. The enemy makes this rebellion outwardly look attractive while at the same time concealing how awful and depraved it truly is.

I remember talking to a cousin of my wife who is a doctor. He had been late to the reception because one of his clients had AIDS and needed some special help at that time. When I made some (to him) stupid remark about being careful he told me I had no idea what type of life these people were living. The average young gay male has hundreds of different partners at all sorts of different locations. That was many years ago and perhaps because of AIDS things have changed a little, maybe.

The average first sexual encounter for gay men is at 12 1/2 years old compared to 16 1/2 years old for heterosexuals. The average gay man is 3 times more likely to have been sexually abused as a child then a heterosexual, Because many gay men will not list their early encounters as abuse if they experienced sexual pleasure with it the actual statistic for homosexuals is 7 times that of heterosexuals.

When we are talking about gay marriage you should be aware that a study of over 500 married gay couples found that over 50% had sex outside their marriage with their partners consent. Another 30% had other sexual encounters without their partners consent. Gay men, just like heterosexuals, and especially as they grow older want to have a stable loving relationship with another person. But most gay men still struggle with lust for different and exciting sexual encounters.

Love wins when we align ourselves with the One who loves us. We find out who we are in our manhood when we find out who we are in Christ. Here are some selections from the First Letter of John:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,
that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth;

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light,
we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

By this we know that we have come to know Him,
If we keep His commandments.

Do not love the world nor the things of the world.
If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes 
and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The world is passing away, and also its lusts;
but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us,
that we would be called children of God; and such we are.

The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

We have come to know and have believed the love that God has for us.
God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgement;
Because as He is, so also are we in this world.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear . . .
We love, because He first loved us.

So there you have it. Love, true love, always wins.