 Hi, this is David Rosales, pastor of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley. Today, I will answer a question concerning marriage. The question specifically being, is gay marriage something that is blessed by God? For such an answer, it is always good to consult the scriptures. And when we do, we see that in the Bible, marriage is used to describe a relationship between male and female. As we know, marriage, its meaning and importance, has steadily eroded over the last generation. There are many reasons why this is so, and there are simply too many to try to enumerate each one of them. In our day, divorce has produced millions of single-parent homes, and millions of children being raised in single-parent homes are growing up in such a way that they ultimately do not value marriage because it's not something that they have seen as being valuable. It simply doesn't have the same value as it does for those who have been raised with two biological parents who've loved one another and have remained together over the years. Of course, there are Christians who have found themselves in this sad situation, and this is in no way a condemnation of so many single parents who are doing their best to raise their kids. With that said, I'm sure we all would agree that the ideal situation is a husband and wife raising kids, and it is the ideal that the Lord has given to us in His Word. The breakdown of the family has affected our nation, and its value is questioned among our youth. The answer that has been postulated by America's intellectual ruling class has been to simply create a new definition of marriage and family. Common cultural wisdom has affected and perverted the younger generation's perception and definition of love, commitment, morality, marriage, and the family, to the point that any who differ with their new morality are intellectually assaulted and shouted down. Even those calling themselves Christian have become confused over this issue and have been convinced that homosexual individuals have a free will and should have the right to choose whether or not they wish to sin and that it is not right for Christians to judge them. They say things like, God would not discriminate against anyone because He loves us all equally or times have changed. This is a new era. People change, and we need to learn to as well. I'm sure if Jesus were here, He wouldn't discriminate. On His face, this seems loving and tolerant. Many people have succumbed to such a way of thinking. The simple fact is, this way of thinking is not just the result of not knowing Scripture. It is the plain and simple act of rejecting it. To say that God would not discriminate against anyone because He loves us all is incorrect. The word discriminate is defined as the ability to note and value quality. It's the ability to draw fine distinctions. To say that God does not draw distinctions is to completely misunderstand the nature of God. And if we use such an argument, then we need to understand that this would lend itself to universalism. Meaning everybody goes to heaven, does not need Jesus, never needs to repent from sin. This flies in the face of Scripture, which says in Psalm 7, verse 11, that God is a just judge and God is angry with the wicked every day. Proponents of homosexual marriage normally couch the argument in terms of discrimination and say that those who are opposed to such unions are simply prejudice and homophobic. The fact is homosexuality is an acquired behavior and is not something that God created or has ever approved of. And His word consistently speaks against it and even warns of judgment related to its practice. Today, some professing Christians say that Jesus would approve of it and would not condemn it. They say that He never said anything about it and thus, if it were so important, would He not have spoken against it and made His feelings plain on the subject? First, we need to remember that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And to say that if Jesus did not say anything, then it must be okay is patently false. Just because the words are not in red letters does not mean that Jesus did not inspire the whole counsel of God. Also, we need to remember that Jesus taught the entire counsel and honored the law of Moses. Obviously, He was aware of Sodom and Gomorrah and why these evil cities were destroyed. Jude 7 tells us that these cities and those around them had given themselves over to sexual immorality and had gone after strange flesh which speaks of homosexuality and it was for this reason that the cities were destroyed. With this in mind, in Luke 17 verses 28 and 29, Jesus used Sodom as a warning concerning judgment over sin when He spoke of the days of Lot and said that they were living their daily lives until the day that Lot went out of Sodom and it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Homosexuals do not want Christians to tolerate them. They want believers to shut up and they want the world to normalize their behavior, making it acceptable and equal to heterosexuality. They do not need to marry any more than do so many heterosexual couples who live in fornication. What they want is for their lifestyle choices to be recognized as normal and acceptable, which is something that Bible reading Christians can never do. As is so common today when we do not accept their sin, we immediately are branded haters and enemies of love when in fact it is those who enable them who are the ones who truly hate them. Christians understand that marriage is not a human invention but a divine institution. Melachi chapter 2 verse 11 refers to marriage as the Lord's holy institution which He loves. In other words, marriage is not man's idea but is God's design and it is specifically intended to make the two one flesh and to produce godly children. Nature itself reveals that only woman can meet man's biological and psychological needs. Man can try to act like he thinks a woman acts but it's just a bad act. God designed man to be completed by woman which is why they became one flesh. While some say that when homosexuals marry, they finally can be happy. The question is, as a group are homosexuals happy? Will marriage guarantee stability in their lives? The social organization of sexuality reported that only 4.5% of homosexual males said they were faithful to their current partner compared to 85% of married women and 75.5% of married men. They found that 40% of homosexual men in civil unions and 49% of homosexual men not in civil unions had discussed and decided that it's okay to have sex outside of the relationship. Only 3.5% of heterosexual married men and their wives agreed that sex outside of the relationship was acceptable. The Journal of Human Sexuality reported that no other group of comparable sides in society experiences such intense and widespread pathology. Homosexuals want to call their unions marriage. The fact is, calling something marriage does not make it marriage. It reminds me of something found in Alice in Wonderland through the looking glass. When Humpty Dumpty says in a rather scornful tone, when I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less. The fact is you cannot redefine words simply because you desire them to mean something else. As a Christian, I reject the redefinition of marriage for several reasons. First, I understand that marriage is a sacred institution ordained by God because it is a union of a male and female calling same sex unions marriage is incorrect. Second, part of God's design for marriage was for procreation. Obviously homosexual unions by nature are sterile and cannot produce children. Third, when children are involved it always denies a child either a mother or a father. Contrary to what many argue and believe, children need role models from the opposite sex. Fourth, homosexual activists have made a moral wrong into a civil right and now are doing so with the help of professing Christians who do not want to be haters or judgemental how tragic indeed. In the attempt to identify their struggle with discrimination against African-Americans and now Hispanics, they have reduced the genuine discrimination against human beings that was based on prejudice against a person's skin color or ancestry. This is simply wrong as those of us who are part of a genuine minority did not choose to be of African or Hispanic descent. I cannot truly choose my genetic makeup and though I might want to say that I'm a six foot eight Swedish woman any child has the ability to see through such delusion. I did not make any choices concerning my ancestry. Homosexuals have made choices concerning their sexual behaviors. As a group, homosexuals have not been denied access to restaurants, restrooms, housing, stores or voting. Based on skin color or national origin, they have not been denied seats on buses lynched, bitten by dogs, shot with water hoses or had their churches bombed by races. To try to identify the rejection by society based on identifying themselves as an oppressed minority is insulting to those who are truly part of a group that has been oppressed for nothing more than their skin color or accents. As an ethnically Mexican man, I cannot decide to become Japanese but I have ministered to men and women who have received Christ, left the homosexual life and gotten married. Just last year I performed the wedding ceremony for my sister who for close to 27 years lived a lesbian lifestyle. In 1998 she came to the Lord and has served him for many years now. The Lord brought a man into her life who has loved her and they are now serving him together. God has a way of making all things new. Finally marriage is created by God and defined by him. No human being has the right to redefine it and no pastor should give people in their churches the idea that God is pleased with such unions. Frankly, anyone calling himself pastor and performing such unions should step out of the pulpit, find something else to do. They are deceived and they are unfit for the pulpit. This is Pastor David Rosales of Calvary Chapel of the Chino Valley.