 I am gay. I didn't choose to be gay." In the Christian Bible, the apostle Paul condemns what he calls shameless sexual acts between men. But Vine says loving homosexual relationships were practically unknown back then. The heart of Scripture's teaching is that marriage is about commitment, that it's about keeping one's covenant with one's spouse in the same way that God keeps his covenant with us. And that's something that same-sex couples can do just as well as opposite-sex couples can. Evangelical Christians read much of Scripture literally. But Evangelical scholar David Gushy says the parts about homosexuality are blown out of proportion. The Bible has 31,273 verses. The number of verses that can be called on to support the traditional position is essentially, well, six passages, maybe 15 verses at the most. Gushy recently changed his own position. You are a movement. His time has come. An expert on the Holocaust, he says biblical distortions have resulted more than once in what he calls un-Christ-like behavior. I think it remains very hard for Christians to say this simple thing. We were wrong. We've been wrong on slavery, on race, on women, on a whole host of issues. So obviously, just by looking at the title, this is going to be, for some people, difficult. Now, I want to tell you up front how I'm going to do this. I'm going to break it down in really two parts. I want to first deal with the people who may be struggling with this, those of you who are in the homosexual community, the LGBT community. But then after that, I want to also deal with Christians who may either confront or come in contact with or want to know how to deal with people in that lifestyle. So that's kind of going to be the groundwork. But I want to talk to those who feel like if they are gay and a Christian or maybe wondering, can I be gay and a Christian? Now, my background is being, because of where I've been for over 13 years, I've had the close contact with people who were sex offenders because that's what you run into a lot in prison. I've come in contact obviously with those who are homosexual in prison, that pretty normal thing in prison, but also those who are transgender. Now, all of them, all of these groups are, and I'm going to talk about the ones who are interested in knowing Christ or those who are sort of curious about Christianity. Sometimes, and we'll be honest, sometimes Christianity gets a bad name from Christians. But the reason for that is because Christianity is made up of people who struggle with a lot of different things. And so that necessarily means we need to talk about and discuss what is a Christian. Now, when you read the Bible, the Bible is full of people who have failures in their life, people with a lot of errors, people who've just made mistake after mistake after mistake, sometimes unintentional, sometimes intentional. But what it is about is about someone coming and redeeming all of these fallen people who want to come to him, those who want to be saved. One of the things that you'll hear Jesus say often is, will thou be made whole? Do you want to be right? Do you want to be whole? Now, in life, I don't care what background you have, where you come from, everybody wants to be loved. Everybody wants to fit in. Everybody wants to be a part of something. No one wants to feel like an outcast. And the truth is that we don't talk about, I don't care what your sexual preference is, we all have some insecurities. I don't care who you are. Male, female, gay, straight, whatever it is, whatever part of the LGBTQ community you're part of, everybody on the planet has some sort of insecurities. The issue is though, can we address those insecurities by one, either being homosexual? Does that get rid of the insecurities? Well, that can't be true, could it? Because when you look at the homosexual community, the LGBT community, there is a high rate, and I mean a high rate of depression. There is a high rate of suicidal thoughts and even actions. It just goes with it. And the question's got to be, well, why? Well, here's why. And I'm trying to say this as loving as possible, having had some experience. I'm going to share with you the experience that I had with people in that group who have decided that they want to put their life and their faith in Christ. Whenever you want to fix something, you can do it one or two ways. You can do it your way, or you can do it the right way. Most cases, we do it our way, which is not the right way. And then oftentimes, especially spiritually speaking, it's God who's left to pick up the pieces. And so when we look at all the different struggles and so forth, the question's got to be, one, do you have a desire to fight it? Do you have a desire to live for Christ? And if there's anything in your life that you need to get rid of to live for Christ, do you have a desire to get past it? Now, I'm not talking to the people yet who think that homosexuality is not a sin. It is. Without question. It is not the way that God has designed, has ordered things. And so for those people who have decided that I am going to live the way that I think I'm supposed to live, well, then there lies no help for you. And that's the case for someone, whether they are homosexual or whether they're full of anger, whether they are full of lust. If you live a life style where you say that I'm going to do what I'm going to do. I'm going to be me. This is the way that God has made me. This is how I am. God understands me and you don't want to change. Then you cannot be saved. The Bible knows of no one who has decided to stay where they are. If you read the Bible and you are not willing to be changed, you don't want to be changed, well, then you cannot be a Christian. Somebody may not like that, but that's just the truth. When I've dealt with and talked to people, because we're in close quarters, we're in close contact in prison, and I don't care who you are in prison, you are going to have conversations and interactions, sometimes often with people who have a different sexual persuasion than you. That's just the nature of these close contacts, these close quarters in prison. As I'm sitting and talking, I remember this one guy in particular. I'll just say his nickname so no one will know. We called him Remy. Remy was dealing with homosexuality. He also decided that he wanted to become a transgender. He was starting the process and he was developing breasts and so forth, going through the hormone therapy and so forth. We would have these conversations because when I got to this one particular place, we were all in one room. It was about 10, 15 of us in one room and so his bunk was close to mine. Anyway, having this conversation, I found out what led him to feel this way. This is sort of the same with a lot of people. There is usually a trigger that leads people to this lifestyle, but then once getting there, they'll rationalize it and saying that I've always been this way. This has always been me. Well, we all do that. I don't care what the issue is. We'll always say, well, this is kind of how I've always been, but there's usually something that triggers it, that kind of pushes it, that makes it clear in their mind, in their minds or in your mind that this is who I'm supposed to be. Talking to him, this was a man who was once married, had a child. The child was killed by a tornado and so he was certainly angry, but he'd also felt insecure in his life. It doesn't matter if you are dealing with homosexuality at all, but if it is you and you're feeling insecure, you're feeling like you are not fitting in. That part is okay. As a matter of fact, I would even go so far as to say that if you are any sort of person with any sort of sense, you're not going to fit in on this planet. As a Christian, we know this. This is not our home, and so I'm going to feel like an outcast. I feel like an oddball, a lot of cases, especially the way the world is going, and we are told that we cannot be friends with this world. Now, before we talk about how I talked with this person, other folks, how to fight it, the issue, the question has got to be, do I want to fight it? Remember, dealing with this question is, can a person be gay and a Christian? Can a Christian be gay? Can a gay person be a Christian? Well, we know what a Christian is. That is someone who has recognized that they have sin and they have submitted themselves by faith to what Jesus has done on the cross, him paying a debt, and now they are firmly in the hands of Christ as their Lord. That's what a Christian is. A Christian is someone who does not lean on their own desires and wants, but has decided to give them over to Jesus. We are going to look at some passages in a little bit, but a gay person now, and I am not even differentiating, because someone is going to say, well, maybe the person who is gay but he is struggling with it, he can be a Christian. Or the person who, not the person who is actively involved, or maybe he is actively involved, but it is a problem. No, I am not differentiating between the desire or the action. No, because the desire in God's mind is the same as the action. Do you hear what I said? The desire in God's mind is the same as the action. The person with evil thoughts in his mind is the same in God's mind as the person that carries him out. Those with hatred in their heart, the same as you actually carrying out murder. And so I do not differentiate that. What I am, what I am calling someone who is gay is someone who identifies himself as gay, where they have these desires, want to act in these desires, but don't have an opportunity or they are fighting them or they are actively involved. Can that person be a Christian? Well, here is a fact, and I want you all to hear me on this. Anybody can be a Christian, but you have to submit to him. Let me give you guys a scripture and I am going to tell you how I, what I have done in terms of dealing with people who struggle with this. And I won't say their name, I don't have permission to say their names, but I'll share with you what was done, because the issue has got to be, guys, especially for you all in Christian community, do we want these people to be whole? Do we want them to discover what we've discovered? If you are out there and you are looking for this wholeness, you've got this hole in your heart, this sadness, you can never fit in, you can never get it right, no matter what you do, no matter who you're with, because let's be honest, it's like taking a pill, the wrong pill, the wrong medicine, there's going to be some side effects. There's going to be some things that you didn't know that came with that and you're not going to like it. As a matter of fact, oftentimes the side effects may be, especially in this case, worse than the actual first symptoms that you're dealing with. The first problem. And you've got a whole new issue to deal with. But here is what a Christian is. Let's give a couple of examples in the scripture. Let's do a way to deal with it. Let's deal with what Jesus said. Jesus says in Matthew 16, 25, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Well, the reason why I pull up that passage is if you are a person that struggles with anything, that's got an issue with anything, if you want to keep what it is that you think you're struggling with, you cannot be a Christian. If you want to keep this identity, this sexual identity, you cannot be a Christian because you're wanting to keep that life. And you can keep that life on this planet all you want, but you'll lose your life going forward to the next life. But if you desire to lose, and I don't understand, for some folks, for some of you guys, it might be a scary proposition. It might be a proposition where I'm not willing to face it because it's full of uncertainty. I've got some friends who validate what I'm dealing with, what I'm going through in the homosexual community, but I'll challenge you on this and that could be wrong. But I've yet to find a homosexual person, male or female, transgender, that is truly happy. The irony of the name gay. But I've yet to find one that is happy. I've met many who have struggled, who have fought different thoughts, dealt with anger and so forth. They're just wake up frustrated. Remember, I'm in a room with a lot of them. And we're in a fishbowl, we see each other all the time going back and forth to the child hall or to the TV room, to the phones and so forth. And so you see them and everybody's open and honest. Everyone's talking. It is what it is because it's hard in many cases in prison to be fake because we're right beside each other. And so me, I want to interact with you. I want you to come and know Christ. And many of them saw my Bibles and thought that I'm some Bible thumper who is going to just harp on them and tell them why they're going to hell and so forth. But this particular fellow even though he had some other issues, he would see me protecting him, defending him when other folks want to get on him and so he realized that I wasn't his enemy but I'm going to give it to him straight and I'm going to do the same thing tonight. And so I'm telling you that if you desire to keep whatever it is you're holding on to, whatever thing that the Bible calls sin, if you're desiring to keep on to that, you cannot be a Christian. Are you with me? And so if you want... Now, this is not talking about the people who deny that homosexuality is a sin. We'll get to that in a little bit. But if you deny that, then you're not even ready for this phase. Also what Jesus says is this, in Mark chapter 10 verse 28, Peter began to say, See, we have left everything to follow you. Jesus says, truly, truly there is no one who has left house, brother or sister or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel to receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children land with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last will be first. His point is people have gone off and just left Jesus. And so Peter's declaring, Peter declares that we have left everything to follow you. Well, that's what it means to be a Christian. To leave everything or at least willing to leave everything to follow Jesus. Now, let me just say this. If you are homosexual, if you're struggling, if you got some issues with sin that's just fighting you, we'll get into how to get past this in just a little bit, in just a second in just a second I'm going to share with you how you get past it. But if you are struggling you want to get past, there are some out there who are gay just because it's the thing to be in their in their circle. One of the things I found out in prison was a lot of people that are gay or in this community, they do so because it's a family for them. It's the same reason why folks join gangs. It's the same reason why some people get on sports teams and things like that or join certain clubs because it's a family and part of something and I mean I didn't like it but the fact that we are a family that they like me, they accept me and so forth and I can just be free, I can have fun. So you're not alone in that regard. As a matter of fact, we all have this issue that we continue to deal with. As a matter of fact, Paul puts it this way in Romans chapter 70 says 1st 15, for I do not understand my own actions. This is Paul. This is the one who wrote a good portion of the New Testament. For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing that I hate. Can you relate? If you can relate, then keep listening to what Paul is saying. He said, now if I do what I do not want I agree with the law that is good. So now is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh for I have the desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry out. Now I can go ahead and stop right there. So Paul is indicating that it's a struggle. This is Paul speaking. It is a struggle. It was a struggle with him. It's a struggle with me. It's a struggle with anyone that even if someone wants to in a mean fashion, a mean spirit of fashion wants to condemn, it's a struggle with all of us to live godly. It really is. And anyone says it differently they're lying to you. If anyone has been hypocritical in judging you, they're wrong who they struggle to. Some of us have just gotten good at covering up our sins covering up our struggles but the fact of the matter is we all suffer in this regard. And so you're not alone. Now, what did I do? What did I do? And I'm not saying this is the perfect way to do it but this is what I've done and this is what I say to you for the people that I've tried to minister to who are struggling with this who really genuinely wanted to be more of a Christian and gay. See, if you want to be a gay Christian you can't be a Christian. You can't be a political Christian. As a matter of fact you can't be a white Christian if you want to be a white Christian if you want to be a Mexican Christian you can't be a Christian. If what you are if what's hyphenated before a Christian is more important than you then you can't be a Christian. Now, you can be a Christian first, if that's your goal, your focus within any man and you'll find that whatever it is that you're dealing with that the Bible calls a sin it'll go away. I've never met the person who can get rid of someone else's sin. Can't be done. Can't be done and so for that reason I don't advocate the 12 step program. Nope. I advocate a one step program followed by several thousand other little steps. Here it is. I had a friend of mine who was struggling, as a matter of fact too at the same time it was kind of interesting at the same time they were struggling with Christian, I mean with their sexual proclivities and desires. One guy was so bad with him that he actually had on the day that his son was being born had a homosexual relationship with another man while his child was being, while his wife's at the hospital delivering their child. He wanted to live for Christ but he also wanted to live for his own gratification. Whether it was for the moment because sometimes this little like someone with a drug habit this one little hit, this one little time with it makes me feel good even though I know it makes me feel bad later on. Forgetting about the health issues that come with it, the health ramifications that come with this, because this person ended up getting even having HIV and still and still didn't want to relinquish it. Without getting into all the health ramifications let's just be we'll be honest about this thing that there are some especially when two homosexual males get together there's the risk of it but then also because people are a little careless with their sex nowadays, women are also catching it from some of these men who are being irresponsible and so forth. But his issue with me was once I found that once he, once he knew, I knew before he thought I knew but once he knew that I found out that I knew he had HIV and that he was also struggling with homosexuality, I said I've been knowing that. He said you did he said how long did you know? I said for some time now, at least over a year so this time we're talking in this now or whatever you didn't feel funny I said well listen you didn't come on to me, we're good and so we got a laugh out of that I said but listen the issue is your relationship with Christ and you growing are you trying to grow? He said man listen I'm trying to shake it, I don't know what to do I said well let me tell you what I think you ought to do and he was shocked when I told him nothing having to do with homosexuality no, I don't have an anti homosexual way to change a person no, all I can do is this let's walk to God together let's, it's almost like you all seen the Wizard of Oz it's almost like let's go to the Wizard together with all of our different eels, ailments let's follow the yellow brick road let's get to the Wizard and let's see if he can help us well in this case, let's all walk to God together and so I'm struggling with something, you're struggling with something and so we walk together we'll get there, we will get there and let him clean us because that's what happens the closer we get to him the sand, the issues that we're dealing with the further we get away from that he ends up having never to deal with that again according to his own testimony, I don't know that I can't verify, I don't follow him but he's very, and another brother did the same thing instead of me going and saying listen you know homosexuality is a sin you better this, you better know, that doesn't work because after a while some people get tired of that and they put up their defenses but if I can say let's just get closer to God and so what I started doing was I started sharing the gospel with gay people with transgender, with sex offenders and watch the number of them start coming to Christ really I'm loved to, yeah listen I don't like your sin your sin makes me, but guess what God feels the same way about my sin and if he is saying come to me then he's saying the same to you and what I cannot do is take my I can't put my anger on my back and take it to him nope, I can't take my heterosexual lusting on my back and say, yeah listen I like women I like women and so Lord, you got to deal with it no, that's not how that works that's not how that works I'm gonna get closer to him by reading, by praying by fellow by fellow shipping and so after by the things I listen to not being common with the world, but the things listening to maybe praise and worship music, gospel music, whatever listening to Christian music watching some of the things that I don't watch or be wary of certain things that I watch or don't watch on TV and so I want to, as Paul says in Philippians I want to think on all the good things honestly the pure thoughts, as best I can sometimes those things are gonna be around but you know what, because I'm fellow shipping with somebody and these thoughts come up the opportunity comes up I've got a brother or sister there that can be there with me hold me accountable and I think that's one of the things that we ought to be as Christians I don't have a problem with getting in your business I don't have a problem with letting you know hey, know what you're doing is wrong I love you but you're wrong I don't have a problem with either getting slapped or slapping and then the hug afterwards that's how we're supposed to be the problem has been though in many cases, Christians I don't have any deep stories or deep things to say to the people who are struggling with their sexuality this is it that's all you have to do the issue is, the question is do you want to do that do you want to take the step it's a one step process followed by many steps but my focus, my face is focused and following him he's right there, that's where I'm going and so my back is naturally turned to turned to turn to sin, whatever that sin is so it's homosexuality, my back is turned to it and I'm focusing on that someone that once asked me, I used to cuss like a sailor he was just natural, just fall out I couldn't, I'd answer the phone blankly blank hello, that's just how I was cuss word after cuss word that's just what it was, it's natural and then all of a sudden I just stopped cussing because, because I just started focusing on God and so as I'm walking and getting close to him, you know who's really walking with me God, the Lord and so I've got this perfect fellowship with him and he's just getting off of me I don't even realize it because my focus is just getting closer to him and so Lord if you want me to not be gay, then amen Lord, if you want me to not be mean, then amen Lord, if you want me to not be lustful, then amen Lord, if you want me to not be full of wrath and unforgiveness, then amen I want what you want now the issue's got to be, because the other problem in this dynamic is Christians we do have a tendency to be harsh on sins that we are not involved in and we, now don't get me wrong I'm not getting ready to give a a pass on homosexuality no, it is, if you don't believe it's a sin if you don't believe it's a sin, let's just pull up a couple of scriptures just to make sure first Timothy 1-10 the sexually immoral men who practice homosexuality enslavers, liars, perjurs whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, so now there's other things that are also listed there too murderers and so forth, and so all of these things are listed and so it's not that just somebody that's committing this particular sin is that's the guy that's going to hell, that's the woman that's going to hell but not me I got a foul mouth I lie I steal, I cheat, but I ain't going to hell God, God knows my heart keep thinking that you'll find yourself in a spot you don't want to be and so we don't just look at just the one issue and ignore all the other sins that he literally lists those there for us to see what not to do what not to be and to practice certain things hey man, now the problem that we have though oftentimes we've got even in our own communities in the church people who want to minimize it as sin oftentimes, many times it's because it's because I don't want you to deal with my sin so because I don't want you to deal with my sin I need you to stay off of his sin because once you get done with him eventually you'll get to me and so it's even troublesome when you hear pastors when you hear pastors almost try to make light of sin like hey listen to this brother here I sound good, I ain't saying nothing about his sexuality so his point is that we're using now listen, there's a problem in a lot of churches not just black church but also white church with homosexuals involved in the music ministry and so forth and so his point is going to be that we shouldn't be so quick to judge since we're using them and he's going to draw a comparison with blacks, he's wrong on this guys, let's get back to him we have done what the slave master did to us dehumanize us degrade us, demonize us but then use them by advantage so his point is that we should not be dehumanizing those in the homestex community well he's right there but he's making the same as though because we're calling it out and we're saying what the bible says that we're dehumanizing, no no no if we're saying what the bible says and that's not dehumanizing them what was done to blacks as far as slavery's concerned, that was different you can't compare the two and I get bothered especially when some of these preachers who want to be more social justice worthy than pastor, they want to be more political than preacher will do that because there's some alliance with the homosexual community and I've seen this first hand where pastors will, they've got this alliance that we don't see with people in the homestex community who might, and I've seen it happen where there's funding coming in or this or that is happening and so they're a little bit more hush hush with it but that is wrong what he's saying on one hand you quote homosexuality is an abomination from Leviticus but you say that right after you ate some shrimp, some catfish and some lobster it's in Leviticus that if your wife is on her cycle that you shouldn't go in the same house with her or even sleep on the same bed with her that's the Leviticus too here's my point, we pick and choose the scriptures that we want to use to beat folk up with rather than look at our own lives okay first of all he's got to do better on his understanding of the scriptures so let's say if all we did was stay in Leviticus well first of all he needs to understand what those dietary rules were for, what some of those things were for okay where he would say that it is unclean, the food is unclean for you he never said that homosexuality was wrong just for you, no that's wrong period and we've got multiple passages outside of Leviticus to tell us that it's wrong remember God's design as he put it here he put it together to where there was a man and a woman and the two shall become flesh all right and so no brother you are you're wrong on this one as well look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor I don't condemn you I don't judge you I'm gonna preach Christ to you cause you can't evangelize and antagonize at the same time you cannot insult and inspire the same people that you insult I thank God that Jesus went to Samaria with a woman and asked them sexual identity problems and then preached condemnation he just preached Christ so he says that she had a sexual identity problem you're trying to make her fit into today's dynamic but we'll say that I thank God that we should meet condemning people and judging folks and what have you well we're not condemning people no we should judge we absolutely should judge you don't get the chance to call something sin if I called him all sorts of names and he got mad at me for doing that well then he's making a judgment call about what I said and so we can make a judgment call without questions now we're not condemning people we don't have the ability to condemn we don't have the ability to condemn but you're making light of sin I don't know his business because maybe he's got something wrong I don't know what that is but do not minimize sin now he says we cannot insult and inspire or whatever he said well you have to part of the gospel necessarily requires us telling people that we are in sin and we are going to hell you can't get past that if you do you become like good ol smile and joe down there in houston who all it is is just fun laughs and giggles kicks and giggles that's all it is that's how you get to heaven there is no suffering whatsoever there is no repentance whatsoever and that's not the message he's giving so the point is do not minimize sin and what's happening is we've got more and more preachers black, white, Hispanic even those that we didn't think were on the liberal progressive side that are also minimizing sin especially minimizing the homosexual agenda because there's more and more people and it's becoming more and more accepted and so we don't want to seem as though we are intolerant well listen it's okay to be intolerant towards sin let me just let him say so because tolerance today in these times in this culture demands an affirmation of virtually all kinds of behavior no matter how immoral unnatural or bizarre now listen all of us can stand a healthy dose of tolerance but tolerance must not come at the expense of truth so jewellty said I can be tolerant of some things of you as a person but not of your sin and I'm not gonna just go ahead and just say that okay I hear what you're saying I'll be tolerant of that but not give you the truth in response to it no no tolerance does not mean that we are to accept it because what love is that what love is that to know that what you're doing is gonna harm you and then don't tell you about it now there's this thing about us not getting in anyone's business mind your business what business is it of yours well pastor Anderson has a response of his response on this one as well um if you're in a boat with somebody people saying nothing's wrong with it and I'm doing what I want to do it's my thing you do what you want to do and people of the church people of the church say well uh you know I don't I don't go along with it but it's not bothering me I'm at home with my wife and my family and I can't tell consenting adults what to do behind closed doors it doesn't affect me so I just let them do what they want to do I don't think it's right but I'm not gonna say anything about it I'm gonna let God judge him that would be a good argument if it were not for the argument I'm about to make um if you're in a boat with somebody and uh that person is on his side of the boat and he decides that he has a right to drill a hole in the boat and you telling man what you're doing what are you trying to do he said you stay on your side of the boat you with your wife and your children and I'm doing my thing I'm doing what I want to do what I'm doing is not bothering you I have a right to do what I'm doing but eventually everybody's gonna drown because what happens in one section of society affects all of us in every section of society because sin when it is not exposed destroys yeah so we're not gonna just let it go uh you do what you want to do because eventually eventually you doing what you want to do is gonna creep over you raising your child the way you want to raise your child eventually I gotta deal with him uh at the supermarket he's trying to hold up people I gotta deal with that later listen what we know for a fact is sin does not stay in its own backyard no sin is like a cat curious wants to creep over everything and take over that's what sin does and its whole design is to make himself comfortable and to make himself appeasing to everyone and to make itself the norm that's what sin does that's what sin does now you got some people who have decided that uh we ought to be okay with it uh as a matter of fact I think we're majoring too much on the small things especially since especially since maybe you've heard this before that Jesus never spoke much about it and so why should we now my one of my one of my favorite heretical uh so-called black so-called pastors of a so-called church Freddie Haynes I played this clip before but I think it's appropriate here do you know the words of the declaration of independence we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men all people are created equal I gotta hang out there notice it does not say that all straight men are created equal it does not say that all men are unless you are gay and lesbian are created equal and I got a question for ya why are you so upset why did it bother you so why were you so emotional that you had to clothe your anger with the Bible and justify your bigotry with Scripture why did you have to do it I gotta hang out here because you do know and I'm a loose some of y'all right now we often major in what Jesus minored in have you ever read the gospel and heard Jesus say anything about homosexuality why are you so angry Jesus never said a word about it but you wanna major in what Jesus minored in so his point is and you hear this often Jesus never spoke about it Jesus never said one word about homosexuality so why should we was that true well first of all no it's not true Jesus one talks about marriage and he is intentionally affirming he is affirming all throughout Scriptures we see the affirmation of a man and a woman in a marital setting coming together not just any male and female though but it has to be in the confines of marriage and we only see that affirmed in Scripture God who was all knowing all wise all seeing he didn't know this he didn't know that at some point in time men are gonna wanna see what men and women are gonna see women he didn't know this well yeah and so that's why it was never affirmed if it was okay it would have been affirmed now it was brought up but now when he makes this statement that Jesus never spoke about it well again Jesus spoke about it from the beginning to the end we know that Jesus is God now the question's gotta be to him somebody like him do you believe that Jesus is God or not because you don't if you don't then you've got bigger problems sir you have bigger problems not just this issue with your affirming homosexuality maybe you think that you're not affirming homosexuality but you're giving aid and comfort to it and so if you're giving aid and comfort to sin then you are just as guilty of the person that's committing the sin we are told throughout Scripture that as a matter of fact a person like him what Paul says is that you give them over to a reprobate mind and that's probably what's happening that's probably the best description for somebody like him he is all the way in the coffers of a political party and a political movement and so getting the scriptures right it isn't necessarily what he has on his mind but for us and us believers who want to see people deliver want to see people healed let me read a passage one it'll address this issue of homosexuality but also how we should deal with it first Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9 you all are familiar with it it says or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God now let's leave that right there for a second the unrighteous the atacoy which is the people who are not in right standing the people who are not in right standing shall not inherit the kingdom of God in other words he ain't going to heaven if you're not in right standing with God you are not going to heaven now he goes through this little list and so he says the beginning of this he says do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral which is what we get the word pornoi this English word of porn or pornography comes from this nor idolatrous nor adulterous now when someone comes back and says that this is what he's speaking about adultery well no that part is actually specifically addressed so we know he's not fine with adultery not meaning that someone who has done it once or what have you someone who is practicing it no no one who is practicing the sexually immoral the practicing adulter that and he's differentiating for our understanding so we don't conflate the two let's continue he says nor men who practice homosexuality nor men who practice homosexuality nor three thieves nor the greedy nor drunkers nor violers nor the swindlers will inherit so now obviously it's not just the homosexual but in this context we're speaking of homosexuality so obviously if you are practicing it if you are practicing it doesn't matter what your heart is like if your heart I want to stop it but I'll keep practicing it and maybe God will fix it later he says those that are practicing it you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven but now I need you all to understand this part look what he says here and we miss this this is the part that we miss look at verse 11 he says and such were some of you but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our of our God meaning meaning that some of us were homosexuals meaning is possible it's possible to lead that lifestyle some of us were adulterers some of us were greedy some of us were drunkers some of us were swindlers matter of fact all of us were one of those things right we were all in this boat but what changed let's look at the scripture again but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord and so what changed our heart our heart was washed does it did not mean obviously that once that happened that bam immediately we stopped that no it's not what it means but our focus our walk everything was going that direction while sin was that direction there might be some times where we had a struggle a fight a fall what have you but that's not who we are and so for that reason I won't carry the same label that I'm a gay Christian I can't be a drunk Christian I can't be that can I I can't be a sexually immoral Christian that also applies to the heterosexual person so if you're out there sleeping around and thinking at least I ain't gay no you don't get a pass either if you are a swindler listen I'm cheating folks stealing folks but I'm a Christian God knows my heart no you don't know your heart and so the fact of the matter is if you are involved in any of those things if you are practicing those things you're not a believer you're not a Christian you have not trusted Christ for you have not placed your life into his hands you have not faithfully given yourself to him nothing has changed nothing has changed matter of fact I remember some of you all remember a lady by the name of Cheryl Swoop she was at Texas Tech when I was there I knew her we used to play basketball and stuff I got together Cheryl when she went to go play with the Houston comments things happened with her life, married life and she found close relationship with some female and what happened was the homosexual community was so irate with her after after she stopped that lesbian relationship that she had and someone asked her was she gay was she a lesbian she said no she said were you born that way she said no she said it was just a choice oh you should have heard the anger the ire that they had for her how dare you say that it's a choice because she said it is a choice I chose for that moment to be with this woman now I'm choosing now she's married to a man now she would go back to being with me and she said it was a choice they didn't like that and I knew when I was at Tech like wait a second Cheryl was not gay then I know she wasn't gay then I don't know for a fact I wasn't somebody was with her but I knew that she wasn't I knew she wasn't gay I knew she would Cheryl liked fellas then and then again things happened the divorce and with her husband and so forth and so things just kind of looking for love attention and so forth and so because the bible only affirms heterosexual marriage whatever the bible affirms will affirm if a person feels like they were born this way I'm not even really interested in the rationale someone says they were born this way whatever someone says that they became this way whatever okay well that doesn't float because if I pulled out my gun and shot you and I was born violent I don't get a pass for that I don't get a pass for for sin okay I don't get a and you may think it's not sin but it is okay I'm trying to do two things at once I don't get a pass for being immoral heterosexuality I don't get a pass for lying I don't get a pass for cheating I don't get a pass for any sin whatsoever nor do you but now for you guys who are now this is only for a select group of people and I want you to hear this real quick as we get ready to close this is only for a select group of people just the people who are interested in being used as a vessel to save souls okay just you guys I want you all to pray because you're going to come in contact with people who are in a different lifestyle I want you to pray Lord how can I be used to share the gospel with someone who is in the LGBTQ community because he does he cares for them like he cares for us he cares for Americans like he cares for those in Asia and Africa and Europe he cares for the straight just like he cares for the gay he cares for us all now he didn't care for our sin and so ask the Lord how you could in prayer have your heart prepared to deal with them because obviously there's a way that you have to deal with them you can't just come attacking, fighting, punching hey you're going to hell let me show you how not to go to hell you mean nasty dirty no you can't do that way could I I can't point out your sins in a fighting way there's a certain style I want you guys to be prayerful about how your heart can be soft and how you can learn how to deal with people who are in a lifestyle that's different than yours but you know because if Paul says it is out of love that we are compelled to share the gospel and so that's what I want you guys to be in prayer for because I think I think that they can be redeemed I've seen it before I've seen the LGBTQ people in the LGBTQ community redeemed I've seen sex offenders redeemed change their life I've seen transgender people do the same thing not a lot but I've seen some I've seen homosexuals definitely change I've seen racist people do it I've seen liars and thieves I've seen some of the most violent people do it I know for a fact an encounter with Christ an encounter with Christ will do it every time and so I want us to be mindful to be a vessel to help someone come in contact with Christ if at the very least not be a hindrance for a person coming to Christ Amen