The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality

Don't try to do God's work!

     I believe...

     God began a good work when you began to exist.  God knew you then and God has always known what to do for you, to you, through you as He has channeled His glory through you in order to keep your perfection progressing.  You are a child of God, and God will lovingly get you to where you should be.  He made you (wonderfully and marvelously) for His pleasure, and He allows you to think, make decisions, learn, test your own wits, and experience consequences that follow.  He has always known where you were born, where you've been as you've been growing and maturing.  He has always known your plight.  He has not been angry with you, but has grieved when anything has worked against you.  Don't be fooled by circumstances.  You are always in the heart of God, and He will, if it takes your whole lifetime and a day, complete His work in you.  You will know that God is God.  You will know joy unspeakable and full of glory. 

     Don't try to do God's work.  Do your own work.  You be you, and let God be God.  You shine YOUR light.  God will shine His. 

The simplest faith is more than sufficient

     I cannot believe as true that God expects anyone to master theology, to master any religious custom, to become an expert about metaphysics, philosophy, science, mathematics, or anything else in order to be at peace with Him (I'm being conventional not dogmatic about "Him.").  I cannot believe that God expects anyone to have no doubts about Him.  I can believe that the simplest faith (consisting of doubts and all) of the simplest person in the simplest of circumstances is more than sufficient to warrant believing that one is at peace with God.  

     I can believe that such faith will not remove anyone from having to deal with this earth in this universe and with circumstances in which and through which he/ she must live.  Such faith will not guarantee that one will easily find answers to every (or any) problem.  Such faith will not guarantee that many problems will not be left unsolved.  Such faith is NOT a quick-fix for anything.  It's simply the avenue to peace with God in spite of any doubts and questions that one might have about God or anything relevant to God.

     I can believe that such faith is not an excuse to abandon ones senses and / or to avoid reason.  Rather, it is an invitation to make the best use of ones senses, to be as scrupulous with reason as one can, and simply take a chance and believe that God is.

Christianity never asks anyone to deny their senses, but....

          Christianity never asks anyone to deny their senses, but challenges everyone to make full use of their senses and get to know all they can about life and where we live as we can know it all. It reminds us we will come to know good and evil, sickness and health, joy and sorrow while living this life and that all situations represent opportunities for us to demonstrate charity.   It also asks everyone to consider the possibility that other senses and dimensions can exist that we can't rule out and that we can't fully appreciate yet.  It reminds us that the absence of evidence does not equate to the evidence of absence.  It invites us to believe that we will live beyond the grave and know who the ultimate Lord is.  

Roy Knight Singers

Roy Knight Singers: In the Middle of My Everyday Life

Roy Knight Singers, "On the Next Cloud Passing By"

     I love the way they do this song.  This lady's voice is one I enjoy having in my mind a lot.

Is Masturbation Sin?

Right now my thoughts are these (as abrupt as they may be):

I would define "sin" as any harm set in motion against my being a unique embodiment of human existence within the universe of all unique embodiments of existence.  "Sin" is not the activity that I do.  It's the harm.  The harm ("sin") is the consequence.  It ("sin") is the punishment.  Setting enough of that ("sin") in motion at one time can result in my death sooner than it must occur.  I could say that "sin" can be "a little bit of death" or "a whole lot of death" set in motion against me (and, consequently, against everything else) as the wages of my sins (On a humorous note, I might get paid overtime.).

Now, does masturbation inevitably, absolutely without further qualification, set harm in motion against my life (and the rest of the universe)?  Does it set a bit of death in motion for me (and everything else)?

Well, if I want to be nitty-gritty nit-picky about it, any activity I could name justly sets a measure of harm (psychological, physiological, social, economic, intellectual, spiritual) in motion, and it all adds up against me (and everything else).

"Sin" is a matter I'd be wise to consider when I'm contemplating my thoughts and actions.  Given that my "contemplations" are thoughts too, and that they are probably imperfect thoughts fed by my embracing of imperfect information, I'm in a "damned if I do-damned if I don't" mess twenty-four-seven.  What am I to do?

I want to be real.  Too much of anything can be seriously harmful to me.  Too much water.  Too much air.  Too much ice cream.  Too much sugar. Too much study of ONE subject.  Too much ignorance.  Too much....  How harmful is acceptable?  A little tiny bit?  A whole lot?  Where should I draw the lines (about each and everything that I think, say, and do)?

It seems to me that the apostle Paul didn't see any problem with loop holes implied by "all things are lawful but not expedient."  What exactly is "expedient" for me (and everything else)?  What's so expedient about heterosexual intercourse and procreation.  Can't they help set harm (a little / a lot) in motion?  

I will face it!  Masturbation can be a bit of a problem solving (expedient) activity for me.  It can help prevent (so it's expedient for) me from doing some activities that (in my mind) could be a whole lot more harmful (to me and to everything else), that is it can prevent other sins.  But, as wonderful as it may seem to be, it (as with any wonderful habit forming activity in which I could indulge) can help generate (exponentially) great harmful effects on me (and everything else), that is it can help other sins to result, and result faster, sooner, and more devastating than they have to in this current life of which I am a part.

I don't see quick-fix remedies for anything given in the Bible.  What I see are seeds and foods for thought to help me manage my  thoughts and behaviors in view of what I am, who I am, and where I am.  But, like seeds and foods, I have to engage in using them and learning how to use them more and more effectively as I grow more and more in God.

To me, in and of itself, masturbation is not sin.  "Sin" is any harmful consequence against me that could result from masturbation.  It's to my advantage to be aware of the possibilities and wisely make my decisions twenty-four-seven.  

"Christian or Atheist, which is it?"

Must it be an either-or situation? How wise are the extremes or all the degrees in between? Who really knows?

Have Christians always argued well, through their speech, writing, and actions for Christianity? Have they argued well... against atheism?

Have Atheists always argued well, through their speech, writing, and actions for Atheism? Have they argued well... against Christianity?

What makes an authentic Christian? Atheist?

Can a Christian be as foolish as an Atheist?

Can an Atheist be as wise as a Christian?

Are you a good Christian just because you boldly declare something like, "I'm not religious! I'm Christian! I'm saved?"

Are you a good Atheist just because you boldly declare something like, "There is no God, no devil, no spirits, no angels, no heaven, and no hell."

Can a Christian be atheistic about some beliefs, ideas, speculations about God.

Can an Atheist be "for Jesus?" and/or maybe even be "for God" in the sense that they are for the truth, the whole, truth, and nothing but the truth... about anything, and they want to avoid any form of "God of the gaps" kind of conclusions?

Does a Christian, or Atheist, really "muddy the water" when he avoids the extremes, recognizes merits in the degrees of mix in between the extremes?

Can there be healthy mixes of the two?

No, I've not been asking about Agnositicism, but go ahead a plug that one in too.