BORN THIS WAY: Pastor John Macarthur's Compassionate Yet Uncompromising Response to Gay activist Chad Allen

No matter gay, straight or bi
Lesbian, transgendered life

I'm on the right track, baby

I was born to survive

I'm beautiful in my way

'Cause God makes no mistakes

I'm on the right track, baby

I was born this way

~ Lady Gaga

KING: All right, John, let me -- let me move to other members of the panel. We have four  members of the panel. I want to get everyone in. John, what do you say to those who say, What about Chad and the love of his life being together? Isn't that better than, say, the heterosexual marriage where one of the partners cheats? Who is contributing more to the moral decay of the society, the adulterous husband with the female wife or the loving gay couple who don't do that?

MACARTHUR: Yes, well, you're asking me to do something I really can't do, and make a judgment on which sin is better or worse than the other. We've suffered in this country from adultery, divorce, the abuse of children, pedophilia, you name it. I'm not going to classify those in rank. They're sins, and they destroy the family.

KING: And homosexuality is...

MACARTHUR: And homosexuality...

KING: ... a sin to you.

MACARTHUR: Yes. And...

KING: Therefore, it's a choice.

MACARTHUR: It's a choice you make. It's a sinful choice.

KING: Did you make a choice to be heterosexual?

MACARTHUR: I don't think I had to make a choice to be heterosexual. I think that's a natural thing.

KING: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. In other words, one is a choice and one is not?

MACARTHUR: Yes.

KING: So he was unlucky and you're...

MACARTHUR: Because -- because you're not talking about -- because it's natural to be heterosexual. That's built...

KING: What do you mean by natural?

MACARTHUR: Well, I mean, that's the way God made us. That's the normal...

KING: But if he doesn't feel that way, what is he, then? He's not a sinner. It wasn't his decision.

MACARTHUR: Yes, I think it was his decision.

ALLEN: I would love, absolutely love for the pastor to point out for me when in my life I made that decision because I have to tell you, it caused a lot of pain in my family. It caused a lot of pain to me. It's a very, very tough thing that I had to go through. I don't remember making that decision. If I did, maybe can you point it out, but that wasn't the case for me.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLEN: It's who I am. You also said that it was in the fabric of the human being that -- to understand that marriage was between a man and a woman and that's what family was. It must not be because it's not in the fabric of what who I am. It's not the way I see it. I think families come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

MACARTHUR: Well, let me respond this way, Chad, and say it had to be in the fabric of humanity or you wouldn't be here.

ALLEN: I believe that reproduction is. I'll give you that. I absolutely believe that reproduction is. However, I think family, the definition of family and the definition of reproduction are very, very different things.

KING: All right...

MACARTHUR: Well, what I said earlier is the DNA, the genetic structure of humanity, of civilization, of society is family. Everybody knows that. That's in the heart. That's how it works. You're coming along with others who are homosexual in their perspective and overturning what is natural to everyone.

KING: Could they also be asking to the privilege of something you have preached for years? Marriage is a healthy, wonderful thing, and they're saying, Let us in...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Why would you deny it to them?

MACARTHUR: Let me respond to Chad, too, just on a personal basis, Chad, by saying, I don't think at some point you said, OK, I'm going to be a homosexual. I got two alternatives. You know, I'm going to go be a homosexual. But I do think whatever sin patterns show up in our lives -- and it may be different for us -- we can choose to continue down those paths of sin, whether it's adultery or whatever it is, or we can say, Look, this is sin, and I need to deal with this in my heart. If this is the way I'm being led, it's not right. It doesn't honor God. It's not according to his word. It's not going to ultimately bring blessing on life. I make the choice at that -- I can't make a choice to be a sinner, OK? I am. We all are. But once you start down the path of sin, if you recognize that  it is that, then you look to the Lord for the remedy to that.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0402/24/lkl.00.html

Recommended books written by John Macarthur:

1. ESV Macarthur Study Bible

2. The Book on Leadership

3. Safe in the Arms of God: Truth from Heaven About the Death of a Child

Recommended books on homosexuality:

1. Homosexuality: Speaking the Truth in Love (Edward Welch)

2. Same Sex Controversy (James R. White)

3. A Queer Thing Happened to America (Michael Brown)

Ten Percent of Registered Voters for Ang Ladlad?

In their campaign to convince people that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle both socially and morally, you will often hear the statistical claim that 10% of the population are homosexuals. This is cited confidently and authoritatively as if it is an unquestionable fact.

The latest person to make this assertion is Danton Remoto of the group Ang Ladlad. Should the Supreme Court affirm the legitimacy of Ang Ladlad as a party list group, Remoto expects that 10% of the 49 million registered voters will cast their votes in Ang Ladlad's favor. I am not an election expert, but as I recall, that would be enough to secure three seats in the House of Representatives.

Yet is it true that 10% of the population are homosexuals?

The source of the statistic frequently used is a study made more than 60 years ago led by a man named Alfred Kinsey. From the earliest days, the flaws in the study were evident as it doesn't represent the general population.

• Approximately 25% of the 5,300 individuals studied were prison inmates-- therefore they cannot have physical contact with the opposite sex.
• Kinsey himself admits that several hundred male prostitutes were used in this study.
• Volunteers were used in the study. Sexuality is a very sensitive issue that those who have the guts to voluntarily submit their selves to a study like this cannot represent the general population (consider also the more conservative culture of the 1940's)

The flaws in the study are so glaring that Paul Gebhard,  Kinsey's successor as director of the Kinsey Institute for Sex Research attempted to clean up the mess in 1979 of the defects mentioned above and he came up with the conclusion that "none of Kinsey's original estimates were significantly affected" by these flaws. But Kinsey Institute's credibility is already in question and other studies say otherwise (click here). Another factor that affects their credibility are the serious allegations of child molestation during the course of the study.(Click here)

Aside from these flaws, the study is not being quoted accurately by those who use it:

"Kinsey did not say that 10 percent of the entire U.S. population was homosexual. Rather, he affirmed that ten percent of white American males were "more or less" exclusively homosexual for at least three years of their lives between the ages of 16 and 65. The statistic for females was five percent. The actual percentage of those thought to be exclusively homosexual for their entire lives was only four percent of men and two or three percent of women, all based on his allegedly representative sample of the population." (Joseph Gudel, Homosexuality: Fact and Fiction; Christian Research Journal)

Am I saying that Ang Ladlad cannot win in May? No. All I'm saying is the statistic being cited is seriously defective.

It is very possible that Ang Ladlad could still occupy three seats in the Lower House.Why? Because even heterosexuals could advocate the homosexual cause. As it is written: "Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:32 NIV)

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Si Obama, Ang Ladlad, at ang Kinabukasan ng LGBT Rights Movement sa Pilipinas

Bagamat ibinasura ng Commission on Elections (COMELEC) ang aplikasyon ng Ang Ladlad bilang isang lehitimong party list group, ang basa ko sa mga nangyayari (nawa'y mali ako), hindi magtatagal ay mabibigyan rin ng akreditasyon ang grupong ito. Kung hindi man sila makakahabol sa Mayo 2010, malamang sa 2013, pasok na sila.

Hindi maikakaila ang patuloy na paglakas ng suporta para sa gay rights movement dito sa ating bansa. Kamakailan ay nagpahayag ng suporta sa kanila ang Commission on Human Rights (CHR), iba't ibang mga bigating pulitiko, at iba pang mga maiimpluwensyang tao.

Malakas rin ang impluwensya ng kulturang kanluran sa atin lalo na ang Estados Unidos. Ang kanilang kasalukuyang Pangulo na si Barack Obama ay nagpapakita ng sigasig upang maisulong ang adhikain ng mga LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender). Ito ay bahagi ng kanyang pahayag:

"that's why I support ensuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country. I believe strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away and passing laws that extend equal rights to gay couples. I've required all agencies in the federal government to extend as many federal benefits as possible to LGBT families as the current law allows. And I've called on Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and to pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act." (-Pres. Barack Obama)

Hindi lang mga karapatan ang ipinangako ni Obama sa kanila kundi ang pagtanggap sa kanilang mga relasyon bilang MABUTI at KAAYA-AYA:

"You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman..." (-Pres. Obama) (kasunod ay MASIGABONG PALAKPAKAN mula sa mga tagapakinig)

Ang paglakas ng puwersang LGBT rights sa Pilipinas ay mahahalata sa pananaw ng karamihan. Hindi na nila ito itinuturing bilang kasalanan o paghihimagsik laban sa Diyos na siyang may akda ng dalawang kasarian (lalaki at babae). Sa halip, ito ay ibinibilang na normal at kanais-nais. Isang patunay nito ay ang isang awiting namamayagpag sa himpapawid mula sa Dagtang Lason na pinamagatang Nagmamahal ako ng Bakla.

Ipaabot mo sa kanila ang iyong pagtutol sa kanilang mga pananaw at sila ay sisigaw ng "FOUL !!! Diskriminasyon 'yan". Malaki ang posibilidad na darating ang araw dito sa Pilipinas na kahit kasinganda't kasintalino ka ni Carrie Prejean, katakot takot pa ring mga pag-aalipusta, pangungutsa at pang-iinsulto ang tatanggapin mo dahil lamang ikaw ay tutol sa mga adhikain ng LGBT rights.

Psalm 12:8 "for the wicked seem to be everywhere, when people promote evil." (NET Bible)

Romans 1:32 "Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (NIV)

related post: Gays in the Church (Mohler Stands for the Gospel at CNN's Larry King Live)

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Mohler vs. Gay Pastors on Larry King Live!

Habang wala pa akong naisusulat para sa buwan ng Hunyo, manood muna tayo ng isang lumang video clip. Ito ay isinahimpapawid noon pang Hunyo 15, 2006. Sa bahaging ito, una nating mapapakinggan ang pahayag ni Jo Hudson, pastor ng isang predominantly gay church sa Dallas. Buong pagmamalaki niyang ihahayag na masaya siya sa kanyang homosexual lifestlye. Ang sagot ni Albert Mohler (Pangulo ng Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) ay isang matapang na paninindigan para sa ebanghelyo ni Kristo. Panoorin po natin:

HUDSON: How is he defining natural, natural relationship? My relationship is wholly and completely natural to me. It is exactly who I believe God has created me to be. And I have a wonderful, living, dynamic relationship with God. And I know, in the core of my being, that the most natural way for me to be, is exactly who I am.

KING: Reverend Mohler, don't you sympathize with that?

MOHLER: I sympathize with every single human heart wishing to know the one true and living God, but I believe there is only one way that can happen through Jesus Christ and the gospel is about repenting of sin, not celebrating it. A church that buys into the logic of Bishop Griswold is a church that's obligated to ordain homosexuals openly and unrepentant or anyone else because it's moved away from the clear authority of scripture.

A church that worships diversity is a church that's destined to accept a death null because the church itself is grounded in truth. The true church always celebrates the truth. I'm thankful there are many conservative, orthodox Episcopalians who celebrate that truth and want to obey the truth. In the main, the big truth is not the interpretation of scripture but whether we obey it or not.

You can read the full transcript here
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