B
bthearen
Guest
1. Whatis sin?
2.What is divine law?
3.Whowrote the law?
4. Whenwere theses laws written?
5. Howold is the Bible? Is Christianity the oldest religion?
6. Who decided what went into the Bible and why did they decide certain things should be left out?
7. Howmany time has the Bible been translated?
8. ThisBrings a main concern to my attention. Is the Bible we have todaythe same as it was thousands of years ago? Have things been lost intranslation? .. Did man have any influence in what was written andoriginally went into the Bible?.. Should we live the Bibleliterally?
Therehave been many laws, rules, doctrines, changed or removed becausethey are no longer considered relevant for today. I was raised in thePentecostal Church. Other churches feel that speaking in tongues,prophesying, miracles, healing, raising the dead, and othermanifestations of the Spirit are no longer for today. Who are why wasthis decided. The Pentecostal church teaches that there are twobaptisms. One at Salvation which is into Christ and the anotherBaptism in the Holy Spirit, with evidence of speaking in tongues.This Baptism is to be sought and prayed for. Other churches believethat there is only one Baptism and the Holy Spirit is received then.The Pentecostal Church believes in instant sanctification which isalso separate from salvation and the baptism in the holy spirit.Others believe that sanctification is a life long process. SomeChurches Baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.Others baptize in Jesus' name only. Some by submersion and some bysprinkling. Each church states they are correct and the only way toheaven. So there are many debates over how things are to be done.
Thereare Churches that believe if a woman cuts her hair, wears make-up,jewelry, or pants they are sinning. Others do not teach this. Somesay that if a man wears shorts or short sleeve shirts, they aresinning. Others do not. Why are there so many differences????
Sincewe are no longer under the law but under grace let's just take theNew Testament into perspective. We all know that Jesus did not speakon the subject of homosexuality. We all know that Paul did. Paul alsostates that women should learn in silence and to remain quiet. Womenare not to teach or exercise authority. He also states that it'sdisgraceful for women to have short hair, wear makeup, braid theirhair, or wear jewelry. All these things have been ignored in mostchurches and if they do follow these teaching they are calledfanatics.
Now,here is my story.
Raisedin KY, I grew up in a religious family. I was raised by my lovingparents in a home right next to my grandparents. As the old sayinggoes, I cut my teeth on the pews at Church. I gave my heart to Christat an early age of 7y/o. I was not molested or beat by my father. Ihad a normal child-hood. My father was a pastor and mom was the pianoplayer at church. From a early age I knew I was different from mostboys. I didn't know what it was but I knew something was not thesame. I also took an interest in piano, music, and singing. Duringpuberty I discovered that I was aroused by looking at men more sothan women. I would look at guys in magazines or on the computer whenI discovered masturbation. I was taught masturbation was a sin aswell. I started crushing on a boy at school and my first sexualexperiences were with men. This petrified me as a kid. I would begGod to forgive me each time I had a “slip up.”
Mymain goal in my young life was to present myself as masculine andheterosexual as possible. It was a constant battle each day. I'llnever forget one day during the Summer in 1997, where I decided I wasready to get rid of this horrible vice. I set on my back porchalone, with my Bible, and I prayed for 4 hours. I cried, I begged, Ipleaded, I rebuked the devil, and proclaimed victory in my life overthis “sin.” I did not want to be gay. I did not want to beattracted to men. I wanted to be a mighty man of God, with a wife andkids. I just wanted to be normal. After all, I was taught that allyou had to to do is just ask. All you have to do is just plead theblood. All you have to do is give it over to Jesus. He will carrythat yoke for you. Aaron, I told myself, you will over-come this.God will deliver you! My victory never came, my joy never came, mypeace never came. I was exactly the same person I was the day afteras I was the day before. I may have been a little naive at the timebut I had assurance that these thoughts and feeling would go away. Ijust knew that I would wake up more masculine and happy.
Longstory short, I spent most of my life living my life as a heterosexualman. I dated women and had sexual relationships with them as well.The whole time hiding who I was. Fulfilling my sinful, guiltypleasures in secrecy. I started seeing a boy when I was a teen, stillliving at home. My mom for some reason decided to go through my roomone day. She found some love notes from my boyfriend at the time. Iwas forced out of the closet. I was given the ultimatum to denouncethis “lifestyle” choice, get psychological help or I had toleave. Wanting to be rid of this demon I chose to get help. I startedseeing a Christian therapist and counselor. I did as I was told intherapy and was pretty much taught that I was going to have to becelibate for all of my life and die alone. This really damaged myoutlook on life. I decided that if God didn't love me the way I wasthen I didn't want anything to do with him. I decided to denounce myfaith, be as gay as I could be, and leave my home.
Iwas kicked out of my parents home at 17. I was only allowed to takemy clothes and shoes with me. I then moved to Florida and got a joban apartment. I then started using drugs to cope with my issues. Ifigured the only way I could deal with all the pain that I wentthrough was just to stay high and numb. My drug addiction progressedas the years went by. I was in an out of jail and had many sexualpartners and relationships with men. Even though I was out and beingwho I wanted to be I was so miserable inside. My life was inshambles. I had nothing and felt there was no where for me to go. Ifinally decided to go home and sought help for my addiction to drugs.This time I got help from a Psychiatrist and Therapist who were notpart of a Church. I was told for the first time that I was normal andthat God loved me the way I was despite the situation andcircumstance. It was like someone turned a light switch on in myhead. I started going back to church, praying, and seeking God.Instead this time I just asked him to create in me a clean heart andmold me into what he wanted.
Questions, Comments, Or Concerns?
2.What is divine law?
3.Whowrote the law?
4. Whenwere theses laws written?
5. Howold is the Bible? Is Christianity the oldest religion?
6. Who decided what went into the Bible and why did they decide certain things should be left out?
7. Howmany time has the Bible been translated?
8. ThisBrings a main concern to my attention. Is the Bible we have todaythe same as it was thousands of years ago? Have things been lost intranslation? .. Did man have any influence in what was written andoriginally went into the Bible?.. Should we live the Bibleliterally?
Therehave been many laws, rules, doctrines, changed or removed becausethey are no longer considered relevant for today. I was raised in thePentecostal Church. Other churches feel that speaking in tongues,prophesying, miracles, healing, raising the dead, and othermanifestations of the Spirit are no longer for today. Who are why wasthis decided. The Pentecostal church teaches that there are twobaptisms. One at Salvation which is into Christ and the anotherBaptism in the Holy Spirit, with evidence of speaking in tongues.This Baptism is to be sought and prayed for. Other churches believethat there is only one Baptism and the Holy Spirit is received then.The Pentecostal Church believes in instant sanctification which isalso separate from salvation and the baptism in the holy spirit.Others believe that sanctification is a life long process. SomeChurches Baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.Others baptize in Jesus' name only. Some by submersion and some bysprinkling. Each church states they are correct and the only way toheaven. So there are many debates over how things are to be done.
Thereare Churches that believe if a woman cuts her hair, wears make-up,jewelry, or pants they are sinning. Others do not teach this. Somesay that if a man wears shorts or short sleeve shirts, they aresinning. Others do not. Why are there so many differences????
Sincewe are no longer under the law but under grace let's just take theNew Testament into perspective. We all know that Jesus did not speakon the subject of homosexuality. We all know that Paul did. Paul alsostates that women should learn in silence and to remain quiet. Womenare not to teach or exercise authority. He also states that it'sdisgraceful for women to have short hair, wear makeup, braid theirhair, or wear jewelry. All these things have been ignored in mostchurches and if they do follow these teaching they are calledfanatics.
Now,here is my story.
Raisedin KY, I grew up in a religious family. I was raised by my lovingparents in a home right next to my grandparents. As the old sayinggoes, I cut my teeth on the pews at Church. I gave my heart to Christat an early age of 7y/o. I was not molested or beat by my father. Ihad a normal child-hood. My father was a pastor and mom was the pianoplayer at church. From a early age I knew I was different from mostboys. I didn't know what it was but I knew something was not thesame. I also took an interest in piano, music, and singing. Duringpuberty I discovered that I was aroused by looking at men more sothan women. I would look at guys in magazines or on the computer whenI discovered masturbation. I was taught masturbation was a sin aswell. I started crushing on a boy at school and my first sexualexperiences were with men. This petrified me as a kid. I would begGod to forgive me each time I had a “slip up.”
Mymain goal in my young life was to present myself as masculine andheterosexual as possible. It was a constant battle each day. I'llnever forget one day during the Summer in 1997, where I decided I wasready to get rid of this horrible vice. I set on my back porchalone, with my Bible, and I prayed for 4 hours. I cried, I begged, Ipleaded, I rebuked the devil, and proclaimed victory in my life overthis “sin.” I did not want to be gay. I did not want to beattracted to men. I wanted to be a mighty man of God, with a wife andkids. I just wanted to be normal. After all, I was taught that allyou had to to do is just ask. All you have to do is just plead theblood. All you have to do is give it over to Jesus. He will carrythat yoke for you. Aaron, I told myself, you will over-come this.God will deliver you! My victory never came, my joy never came, mypeace never came. I was exactly the same person I was the day afteras I was the day before. I may have been a little naive at the timebut I had assurance that these thoughts and feeling would go away. Ijust knew that I would wake up more masculine and happy.
Longstory short, I spent most of my life living my life as a heterosexualman. I dated women and had sexual relationships with them as well.The whole time hiding who I was. Fulfilling my sinful, guiltypleasures in secrecy. I started seeing a boy when I was a teen, stillliving at home. My mom for some reason decided to go through my roomone day. She found some love notes from my boyfriend at the time. Iwas forced out of the closet. I was given the ultimatum to denouncethis “lifestyle” choice, get psychological help or I had toleave. Wanting to be rid of this demon I chose to get help. I startedseeing a Christian therapist and counselor. I did as I was told intherapy and was pretty much taught that I was going to have to becelibate for all of my life and die alone. This really damaged myoutlook on life. I decided that if God didn't love me the way I wasthen I didn't want anything to do with him. I decided to denounce myfaith, be as gay as I could be, and leave my home.
Iwas kicked out of my parents home at 17. I was only allowed to takemy clothes and shoes with me. I then moved to Florida and got a joban apartment. I then started using drugs to cope with my issues. Ifigured the only way I could deal with all the pain that I wentthrough was just to stay high and numb. My drug addiction progressedas the years went by. I was in an out of jail and had many sexualpartners and relationships with men. Even though I was out and beingwho I wanted to be I was so miserable inside. My life was inshambles. I had nothing and felt there was no where for me to go. Ifinally decided to go home and sought help for my addiction to drugs.This time I got help from a Psychiatrist and Therapist who were notpart of a Church. I was told for the first time that I was normal andthat God loved me the way I was despite the situation andcircumstance. It was like someone turned a light switch on in myhead. I started going back to church, praying, and seeking God.Instead this time I just asked him to create in me a clean heart andmold me into what he wanted.
Questions, Comments, Or Concerns?
