tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post3276114132103291874..comments2023-05-26T07:41:53.109-05:00Comments on Afterthoughts On A Whirlwind Journey: What Makes it Wrong?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post-23591120625993677642013-04-09T09:02:31.372-05:002013-04-09T09:02:31.372-05:00Kevin,
I like what you wrote. Thanks.Kevin,<br /><br />I like what you wrote. Thanks.Brendonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18248268499428066786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post-60432684413480226662013-04-07T19:10:32.757-05:002013-04-07T19:10:32.757-05:00For me the Holy Spirit does not allow me to have p...For me the Holy Spirit does not allow me to have peace when I'm engaging in homosexual activity or lust. I have found that I, ME, Myself, cannot live a holy life under my own power, or behavior modification. Only when I choose to submit to Him and rest in His grace is He able to live His Holy life out through me, and I'm just along for the ride. However, to do that one must have a right understanding of grace from the Holy Spirit, and not take advantage of it, and learn to submit to Him. It is a very easy thing to say but it is really hard to rest in God. When one is a baby Christian it is very natural such as breathing but when you allow yourself to wallow in sin after you know better it gets harder to and harder to do allow God to live in you.Thank God we are under grace now and not under law!<br /><br />Gal 2:20-21<br /><br />20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”[a]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post-10722572844882378062013-03-23T15:07:05.105-05:002013-03-23T15:07:05.105-05:00I hope you don't mind I leave this video here,...I hope you don't mind I leave this video here, which I think is a good answer to the question:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyo0jTuFFw" rel="nofollow">God is love</a>Mark 10:6https://www.blogger.com/profile/15638195819457027811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post-18360895671706716162013-03-23T14:57:30.394-05:002013-03-23T14:57:30.394-05:00This post really still has me thinking, Brandon, a...This post really still has me thinking, Brandon, and I do think it's a good topic.<br /><br />I think the answers come quickly once we decide what our criteria for analysis are - essentially "who do you trust". I don't think anybody can really figure it out themselves.<br /><br />In this area I am grateful to be a Catholic. I know you said each person should think it over for themselves, but for me the Catholic faith makes it plain: homosexual sex acts are always displeasing to God - they can never be right. I know it sounds harsh and a bit arrogant perhaps to non-Catholics and gays. And I want to point out that we all need love, and this is much of what gay people need, things like hugs, handshakes, and other genuine expressions of friendship and Christian love. But homosexual sex is off limits, for Catholics at least.<br /><br />To me, I actually am very grateful for this. It reduces the confusion. It was difficult to accept at first. But once I accepted it as the will of God, I feel He made it clear to me and gave me grace to be sure it was true.Mark 10:6https://www.blogger.com/profile/15638195819457027811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post-41868021563263186492013-03-20T20:24:22.241-05:002013-03-20T20:24:22.241-05:00N,
Thanks for commenting. I understand what you ...N,<br /><br />Thanks for commenting. I understand what you are saying about scripture, and I agree that it was written with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. However, I do not believe it is a fully perfect guide, and I need only point to the discrepancies in the accounts of the four gospels as an example; if it were perfect, they would be completely aligned. I can also point to the fact that the church has changed over time in numerous ways, being led—hopefully—by the Holy Spirit in such changes. I think the Holy Spirit can and does work through us regularly, and we cannot, or should not, allow our wanting to adhere to the bible to limit that. Just as some of the disciples got Jesus’ teachings wrong at first, so, too, may some of the bible have initially been written with the wrong beliefs or understanding in certain regards. All I say is that it is a possibility, and we should not allow the bible to be our only source for knowing God’s will.<br /><br />As for nature, I know we cannot justify our actions based on what animals do, but I think we can definitely look at animal behavior to help us understand our own behaviors at times. I only meant to suggest that if homosexuality is naturally occurring in animals, then it may be naturally occurring in us as well, and if animals are not held accountable for said natural behaviors, then there could be a chance that God neither intended for us (humans) to be held accountable for such behaviors either. I’m not sure. But I do believe that animals (despite some only wanting to assert their dominance over others) can be in loving, homosexual relationships—one need only look at the relationship of those two penguins (I forget at which zoo) to see that.<br /><br />Mark,<br /><br />Thank you, too, for commenting. I think you are right that people do tend to try to rationalize wrong behaviors a lot of the time. I am sure I try to do this at times as well. In this matter, however, I really just want answers. Certain arguments for homosexuality being okay really do make perfect sense to me, and so I have to question why I ever thought it was wrong in the first place. At present, I have to err on the side that homosexuality is wrong only because I do not wish to act in favor of it based on doubt.Brendonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18248268499428066786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post-67876066441189608972013-03-18T13:38:27.752-05:002013-03-18T13:38:27.752-05:00Hi Brandon thanks for this thoughtful post. I agre...Hi Brandon thanks for this thoughtful post. I agree with your criteria. One I would add is whether a person does experience homosexual attractions. This can influence whether or not one thinks it is wrong because these feelings are so intense that most people tend to find rationalizations to believe they are not wrong, since they are difficult to resist anyway. Just a thought. This is a topic that is very rich and could be explored in many ways.Mark 10:6https://www.blogger.com/profile/15638195819457027811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6319921527453210584.post-80824810615717171402013-03-17T18:46:38.159-05:002013-03-17T18:46:38.159-05:00In the first place, I think you have made the righ...In the first place, I think you have made the right personal decision. I'd like to support that decision with a couple of considerations about some of the other bases for decision you discuss.<br /><br />First there is scripture. I believe in divine inspiration of the scripture. Yes, the authors were sinful, erring men. But the Holy Spirit guided their writing so that what they wrote would be "the word of God in the words of men." There is much more that can be said about the implications of this belief. Suffice it to say here that I don't think we can disregard what we understand to be the teaching of scripture on a particular point simply because the authors were human, and therefore sinful and personally fallible.<br /><br />Second there is nature. If our bodies are designed for heterosexuality, I think it is fair to see in that design the will of the Creator of the design. (As for animal homosexual behavior, I'm not sure that we can justify our behavior on the basis of what we see animals doing. But I recently saw an article which said that what is happening there is an assertion of dominance by one male over another, not an expression of love.)<br /><br />As for how I came to the conviction that homosexual behavior is wrong, I can't recall specifically when I heard that all forms of sexual activity outside marriage are included in the Ten Commandments' prohibition of adultery, but it came as no surprise when I was taught in my Catholic college philosophical ethics course that homosexual acts are contrary to human nature. That teaching appeared to me to be self-evident. Whether it was the Holy Spirit convicting me of the truth or simply human reason I won't speculate. But one way or another, the religious and philosophical teaching on the point have always seemed to me to be unassailably true.naturgesetzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15268507379933286863noreply@blogger.com