Last Sunday, we discussed godly responses to those seeking help for overcoming homosexual temptations.   Yes, a plain reading of Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, and Romans 1 establishes that homosexuality is not God’s design for creation.   Just like other sins, a person struggling with homosexual temptations is called to come before Jesus and make Him Lord, praying that His divine power will give the grace to say no to ungodliness and worldly lusts.       

On June 24th, the NY legislature passed into law a “Marriage Equality” act that for now legalizes same-sex marriages in the State of New York.   Generally speaking, I stay away from politics.  I figure my time is best spent devoted to the ministry of the Word and to prayer.  But let’s take a closer look at this June 24th passage of that law.  The standard for our lives should be based on the Word of God.   This “Marriage Equality” act has two fatal flaws.   One flaw is the premise that all fluid and changing notions of “human rights” are equally valid and therefore should not be discriminated against.  The second flaw is the premise that the standard for determining these “rights” is found by counting how many people “prefer” something and changing the standard to fit preferences.   No external standard is addressed in this law, only a standard based upon rights and preferences.  What is next to fall?   “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  Ps. 11:3.   Is polygamy next?  Legalizing pedophilia?  Incest?

The Bible’s standard for marriage is “ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN, FOR LIFE.”   The majority of evangelical Christians in America have conveniently deleted the “for life” Biblical standard from their definition of marriage, allowing divorce and remarriage without blinking, in the name of “equality” and “love” and “mercy.”   In the church in America, 75 years ago only a few churches would have allowed a divorced member to remarry while the first spouse was living.   Now most churches don’t blink an eye when members remarry while their first spouse is alive, thus living in a state of adultery.   In that area, the majority evangelical church has changed the Bible, in the name of “mercy” and “love” and “rights” and “equality.”   New York has now joined other states in extending “rights” to homosexual partners who violate the standard of God’s Word, and most of evangelical America is aghast.   Give us 30 years, and the trend among evangelical Christianity will be that in the name of “mercy” and “love” and “rights” same-sex marriages will be accepted and welcomed in the church, regardless of what God’s Word says about it.   God’s standard of “equality” hasn’t changed; man’s has.   May God help us to give attention to public reading of the scripture, to exhortation, and to sound doctrine.   I Timothy 4:13.    We need it! 

It's Father's Day, so here's to Dad!  I'll pen a few lines about my Dad, and then address fatherhood.  Dad got married at 19 years old, which seems way young.  I mean, how could he have “missed out” on life by getting married so young, and then so “unwisely” having a child within a year of marriage?   During his service as a conscientious objector, Dad worked as an orderly at Lake County Hospital for $1.25/hour, which was minimum wage.   In the early years, Dad had to work long hours and was not home much for five, sometimes six days a week.   Early on, he built a house to sell, working on it in the evenings and Saturdays, and sometimes getting home during these times after 11:00 p.m., only to head out again for his regular construction job at 6:30 a.m.   When you add to this the responsibilities of young children to care for and a wife to love, I thank God that Dad remained committed to his family.   

By the time I was at an age that I can remember, Dad's work schedule had decreased to the point that he was gone approximately 12 hours a day, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.   I will always be grateful for the opportunities I had to work with Dad as a carpenter over the summers of my high school years, and some time after high school, leaving early in the morning, working alongside him all day and traveling home together with him and my brothers.   Dad's gifts to me include imparting a sense of responsibility to view work as a privilege, not a burden.   I thank God for the gift of a father who seeks the face of His Creator, even in His imperfections.  Dad's growing up years had been difficult, and he wanted his sons to have it better.  Certainly his fathering was not perfect, but there is much about his fathering that deserves a lot of praise.          

If your father is still alive, make an effort today to contact him either by letter, telephone call, or email.   Perhaps you have been bitter at him for something he did or did not do.   Forgive him for that real or perceived offense.  Perhaps you have a long list of things to thank him for.   Don't put it off until tomorrow.  A  committed father is an endangered species; all Dads need encouragement.

For you fathers, pray about your role as a father.  Yes, our Heavenly Father does hold you responsible for a task that is bigger than you, but He also gives you the grace to complete that task.   Remember Ephesians 6:4.  Fathers are given four instructions: 1. Do not provoke your children to anger; 2. Bring your children up; 3. Discipline them in the Lord; 4. Instruct them in the Lord.   You do need the help of the body of Christ, but do not forget that nobody can ever replace you—you are the irreplaceable father of your child.    

If you are not a husband you probably stopped at the title.  If you are a wife at least make sure your husband reads this.  He can call me to complain later.        

Present-day reality is addressed in some way through the Word of God, and specifically through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Peter addresses a reality of marriage: “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them (your wife) with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”   I Peter 3:7.  How many believing men walk around with empty prayer lives, wearing a religious facade at least in part because they have emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually “divorced” their wife for years?   Husbands, consider this.  If you have neglected to honor your wife, and have neglected to “dwell with her with understanding” (which could be restated “get to know her and love her”) God tells us that your prayers have been hindered.   Now we know that not all prayer is intercessory, so this could affect not only tangible answers to intercessory prayer, but even the communing aspects of prayer that we need so much as believers.       

Here is a simple suggestion to you husbands.   Carve out two times a month where you and your wife can have some significant, face-to-face time where you ask her about her life, dreams, struggles, fears, and hopes, and where you make a concerted effort to carefully listen.  I don't refer to mere communication here;  communication is all the rage in marriage books today, but the divorce rate keeps climbing even with communication.   We need to seek for a soul connection, a deeper level of communion that is only possible as the Spirit of God works in our lives,  and through the twin gifts of time and interest, bathed in love. 

Thankfully, conservative Anabaptists have endeavored to obey God's intention for marriage: one man and one woman for life.  That said, just because I have a marriage certificate and have been “faithful” to my wife does not mean that I have entered into spiritual communion with her in a way that exemplifies the spiritual union of Christ and the Church.   Men, we have some work ahead of us, and you and I need to stop being slackers when it comes to pursuing the wife that God has given.   Will your wife have a difficult time submitting to you when she hears this? “Honey, put on your best dress.  I've arranged for a babysitter, and we're going on a date tonight.” Or maybe this...“After the children are in bed tonight I would like you to tell me what's been on your mind this week.”  Try it this week.  You may be surprised.  Sure, this might not be for the faint of heart, but your heart fainted for her before, right?