Be Doers Of The Word
"All you Bible "believing" Christians, who deplore the actions of the Presbyterian Church USA's decision, opening the way for ordination of LGBT persons, do you think you will escape the judgment and wrath God pours out on those who reject the Bible's doctrines?"...
For nearly 20 years I've pleaded with God for understanding of my fellow Christians. "WHY!?" I would cry out, "WHY! Doesn't the Church understand how to lead people toward your hope, life, light, peace, freedom and love?!?!?!" Always, and I mean always, John 8:31-32 would pop into my head:
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
If I look back at all of the posts I wrote, on Xanga blogs, more than 80% of them have these two verses of Scripture in them. Do you know why so much of what I write had these two verses from John in them? Because I've asked God so many times, "God why doesn't the church know how?" I thought John 8:31-32 was something God wanted me to tell my fellow Christians, but it was much simpler than that. God wasn't telling me something for anyone else...God was merely answering my question: "Why don't Christians understand?" The Church doesn't understand God's freedom, because the Church won't obey Christ's teachings.
If you're one of those people who think the term "Christian" has too much baggage, and too much sin attached to it, then try, "Obedient Ones". Obedient is what Jesus calls his true disciples. All anyone has to do is look at John 8:31-32 to see that; its right there in black and white, and has been there for more than 2,000 years.
John 8:31-32 is why I had to come back to Xanga. I never had any plans to return here and blog. I'd visit some of your blogs, but I had no intention of coming back. Why did I have to come back? Because of the "Such _were_you agenda". And what exactly is that agenda? To give my fellow Christians enough verbal "rope" with which to hang yourselves. For years the majority have acknowledged what I was saying on my blog was truth, but you didn't want to do anything with what I was teaching. You wanted me to be your source for dealing with all things LGBT. What I know that you don't know is that every time I tell you the truth, but you don't apply it, you bring judgment upon your own heads. If I am such a good teacher; so full of good spiritual insight, then why didn't you do what I taught? I've told you all for years what and how I teach is exactly how God gave it to me. If it all comes from God and works for me, it will work for anyone. When we acknowledge the truth without practicing the truth we are according to God "foolish and deceived". (See Matthew 7:26 and James 1:22). I don't want to reach/teach the Church, none of them will listen to me. If you people on Xanga, who appear to like me, won't listen then no other Christians ever will. So the agenda was to set you all up:
- Tell you the absolute truth of God
- You pat me on the back, "Atta boy, Lonnie!"
- You would acknowledge, but never practice the truth for yourselves
- I get to say, "See God, no one will listen. Even those who acknowledge I'm teaching the truth won't do it themselves!"
This created two great sin problems for me. 1) My agenda cast me in the roll of "accuser of the brethren". An Obedient One can NEVER be the accuser of the brethren, for that is satanic. 2) My cousin James pointed out that God expects one thing from those who claim to be his: FAITHFULNESS.
Some of you might argue my increasing harshness was part of my sin problem as well, but that was also part of setting you up. I'll explain later in the second or third part of this post why the harshness isn't really the issue you think it is.
God has called me to reach/teach the Church. That is the overall call, every aspect of what God desires to do in and through me flows from that particular call. I have no desire to reach or teach the Church. I used to be gay! I am the last person Jesus Christ should call. No one in the Church will ever listen to me, and in fact that always proves to be the absolute truth. Still there is this call hanging over my head like an axe blade. Anyone and everyone would be better suited to God's call than I could ever be. All my life I've believed everyone, and I mean just about everyone, is smarter, more capable, wiser, just better in every way. That's the source of all my frustration and confusion with the Church. I should be able to tell my fellow Christians; Obedient Ones, and they'd simply do it all so much better than I ever could. The added benefit is, of course, that the Church would listen to someone who hadn't been gay. Gay is such a terrible word to Christians. Its so terrible no Christians will ever put themselves out to obey God to the point where they'll truly understand how God saves and frees. How do I know the Church won't ever obey God? Well...It has been 42 years since the Stone Wall Riots started the modern LGBT rights movement. After 42 years churches either accept homosexual orientation as natural, or they, increasingly, see homosexuality as a sinful proclivity some Christians will struggle to endure in this life. These two positions will bring Christians the eternal condemnation of God. The Bible is absolutely clear on this point:
"I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33b
"...for everyone born of God overcomes the world."
1 John 5:4a
God doesn't close his eyes to and accept sin, and God doesn't merely struggle against sin. God completely overcomes; destroys; burns up; vaporizes sin. Nothing else but God's standard will be acceptable for God. You and I don't overcome anything. God does all the overcoming in and through us. All we do is obey what Jesus tells us to do, and even that is completely enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. God saves us from top to bottom, but our part is to walk in it.
We can study theology all we want to, but we'll never know God's freeing, life giving, salvation, for us or others, until we do what he says. Don't believe me? Its right there in John 8. Jesus tells us, "Do what I teach, and you are my true disciple. As you do what I teach you will know the truth (the truth is Jesus, not merely a set of spiritual standards), and the truth will set you free." Don't keep Jesus teachings and you won't know the truth; both Jesus and the deep spiritual standards. This is what James is talking about when he says in James 1:22,
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
Why doesn't anyone in the Church understand how God makes a sexually broken person, "...and such were some of you..." The Church doesn't understand God's freedom for sexually brokenness because we haven't been obedient to keep Christ's teachings. We've accepted that theoretical is acceptable to God. "All you Bible "believing" Christians, who deplore the actions of the Presbyterian Church USA's decision, opening the way for ordination of LGBT persons, do you think you will escape the judgment and wrath God pours out on those who reject the Bible's doctrines?"... You conservative believers still don't know what to do with sexually broken people. It is not enough to claim you believe the Bible. Jesus and those who belong to him overcome sexual brokenness. If you do not understand that God always overcomes, then you do not yet know God. Don't believe me? It's right there in the Bible, and has been for over 2000 years. Both left and right sides will be condemned, for you do not know Jesus overcomes Same-Sex Attraction, and every other manifestation of lust in human beings. It isn't a work we do, it is all God's work to in and through us. Our part is to obey!!!
Now of course obedience isn't merely about reaching the sexually broken with the overcoming truth and power of Jesus Christ. I didn't set out to reach sexually broken people either. I started working in a soup kitchen reaching out to everyone there. But since I was obedient to Christ's call:
"And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’"
~ Matthew 25:40
God lead me to street walking hookers. It is through my experiences with hookers that God was able to open my eyes to the root of my own sin, and the sin of the Church. Had I not been obedient to serve everyone at that soup kitchen I still would not know the overcoming power of Jesus Christ. Since the Church does not yet know the overcoming power of Jesus Christ for the sexually broken then the Church has not obeyed Christ.
I hope you will stick with me as I write this series. I've just scratched the surface thus far.
Lonnie
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