Sexual Orientation
The only biblically consistent way to speak of “sexual orientation” is to recognize that sexual desires and behaviors do occur in deep and persistent patterns. These patterns may be so deep as to feel natural. But the same is true of other sins: it is “natural” for us sinners to be proud, greedy, angry, and so on. None of these sins, however, are “natural” in the sense that that they are normal and right behaviors for humans.
“Sexual orientation” refers to an innate, unchangeable trait that makes it natural and normal for someone to engage in certain sexual practices. The term functions as both an explanation and a defense of homosexuality:
Explanation: People naturally seek sexual unions that fit their orientation. Those with a “heterosexual orientation” will naturally seek sexual union with a person of the opposite sex, while those with a “homosexual orientation” will seek sexual union with a person of the same sex.
Defense: Orientation is an innate and unchangeable trait, like height or skin color, and therefore outside the realm of moral evaluation.
However, the idea of sexual orientation fails in both respects. To take the second point first, let’s grant the (unproven) claim that there are certain biological correlations with homosexual behavior. It does not follow from this that homosexual behavior cannot be evaluated morally. The reason for this is that there are biological correlations to many human behaviors that are clearly subject to moral evaluation. For instance, men are much more likely to commit murder than women. This does not mean that a moral criticism of murder is sexist. Nor does it mean that “men are murderers” because of some innate and unchangeable trait. Human behavior is complicated, and biology is one factor.
Second, the notion of “sexual orientation” fails as an explanation of homosexuality. Unlike height, skin color, or sex, sexual orientation is not observable. It can only be discerned by observing a person’s behaviors and statements. It is therefore at least possible that “orientation” is a concept developed to justify certain sexual behaviors, rather than a real explanation of them. That possibility was already there in the early days of gay and lesbian ideology, but it has emerged as a distinct probability as LGBTQ+ ideology has evolved.
Let me explain what I mean. Consider the phenomenon of “bisexuality” (the “B” in the expanding acronym). Is this an orientation in its own right, or does it describe someone who moves back and forth between two orientations? Such questions are even murkier when “gender-fluid,” “non-binary,” “trans,” “queer,” and various other identities are thrown into the mix. No longer are we talking about an innate, unchangeable trait that makes certain sexual behaviors natural. Rather, we are talking about completely decoupling any evaluation of sexual behavior from innate natural traits.
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Rescuing Reverence – 4
Pride obscures our relationship with God by treating God as smaller than he actually is, and treating ourselves as greater than we actually are. Pride is a distortion of reality. God can no more work with pride than reason with a lunatic. Pride is a kind of moral madness, where we see ourselves as gods with intrinsic beauty. With pride goes unbelief, which is refusing to accept what God says about us, himself and reality. We can only love and reverence God rightly if we grant to God his true place of firstness in our lives.
At the heart of reverence, or holy love, are six components: otherness, openness, submissiveness, gratefulness, childlikeness, and wholeheartedness. To rescue reverence is to understand these in turn.
What is the fundamental obstacle to knowing and loving God? Self-worship. Pride and unbelief, the two sides of the coin of Self, are at the root of every sin, and therefore at the root of fleeing from God. Stubborn independence, guiltily skulking away, and refusing to find pleasure in his beauty come from the flesh’s desire to rule. Unbelieving pride is the mother of all sins, and the root of all spiritual malfunction.
If we are to worship God by knowing him, the absolute starting point is that we recognise he is God and we are not. Christianity broken down to its first principle is this: only one God exists, and he is not us. He is not a means to our own ends. We have been created to know and love him for who he is. If we are to love God as he is, we must deny ourselves, recognising that our lives do not revolve around ourselves, since we orbit the sun that is God, not the other way around. We must turn from trying to use God, or manipulate God, and come to him to love him as our only God. We must settle on the fact that there will be only one ultimate love in our lives, and it will be God. A failure to give God his place as God is at the root of all our problems.
This foundational attitude of loving God we could call otherness. It understands that the Great Choice of life is to acknowledge God’s claim on us, go out of ourselves, as Augustine put it, and acknowledge God’s claim on us. Our fundamental posture is oriented away from self towards the other: the Great Other Himself.
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth. (Psa 115:1)
Otherness is to understand that life is not about self. Life is about going outside of ourselves to God. It is about him. He is God, we are not. He is the source, we are not. He is Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End. This is the starting point of the fear of the Lord.
A biblical word for otherness is humility.
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One’s Last Solar Eclipse in Life and Its Lessons
This rare, awesome, phenomenal, and remarkable event is both an opportunity and lesson to make God our priority when experiencing or observing it while recognizing His handiwork. At the same time, it’s also an opportunity to see how the spiritual realm replicates the natural realm with practical application to life and to our personal lives.
One of the benefits of aging is awareness that some events will be the last of their kind in one’s life. Admittedly, some may consider it a downside. But those who are realistic accept and take it in stride. For many Christians and, hopefully, the majority, opt for realism as they anticipate the blessed hope promised in God’s Word and to be at home with the Lord.
At my age, the total eclipse on April 8, 2024, will definitely be the last of its kind in my life. Having observed it behind the prescribed lenses with others was an awesome experience—awesome both naturally and spiritually.
Naturally, its rarity and astronomical appearance amazes and delights our natural senses. To think we can anticipate its occurrence in advance and be equipped to observe it healthfully with no damage to our eyesight, as well as considering the distance involved, seems almost miraculous. The heavens are vast and most spectacular.
Spiritually, to consider the Creator, who awesomely and majestically created such an ordered and vast universe, and regularly scheduling such a phenomenal occurrence, brings only adoration and praise to be known of Him and to know Him. Realistically, how can anyone observe the heavens and believe they randomly occurred without a great Designer? Additionally, the personal thoughts and spiritual lessons that come through such an event and moment in time are edifying and thought-provoking. I am always surprised when unassumed or non-previous spiritual lessons come to mind, as it did on this occasion.
At this late stage of my life, two spiritual lessons came out of this natural event and phenomenon—lessons that never occurred to me previously:The least sliver of the sun’s light left in an eclipse still provides the daylight to which we are accustomed, which attests to its incomprehensible power and radiance.
The sun is not eclipsed or darkened by some evil, as the moon is good and provides light at night.Observing the eclipse where I live it was not total. It ended with a very, very thin sliver of its radiance that continued to give the day more than enough light. It occurred to me that no matter how much the light of God’s divine revelation or the Gospel is denied, hidden, or persecuted, there is always enough to bring its light to our attention and to that of a lost world. In other words, it will continue to transform lives bringing knowledge of our Creator and atonement, redemption, and salvation through Jesus Christ.
Secondly, this thought came through as never before. That which obstructs the light of the sun in an eclipse is not some evil. It’s something normally considered good, that is, the moon which provides light during the night. What can we learn from this? It’s possible that what obstructs the light of God’s Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is often not some great or evident evil, but rather much that appears good such as priorities usurping God’s place and priority in our lives—priorities such as loyalty to family or friends, loyalty to work or other activities, loyalty to nation, prioritizing good works extraneous of faith, perhaps prioritizing political allegiances, and many other priorities. True, evil darkens God’s light, but this eclipse reminds us that even perceived good can darken the sun’s/Son’s light in our lives.
Are we able to recognize that not only evil but much that appears to be good and positive can so prioritize itself obstructing God’s holy light and goal, which is to bring glory to Him and to transform our lives to be obedient to His will?
This rare, awesome, phenomenal, and remarkable event is both an opportunity and lesson to make God our priority when experiencing or observing it while recognizing His handiwork. At the same time, it’s also an opportunity to see how the spiritual realm replicates the natural realm with practical application to life and to our personal lives.
This last phenomenal astrological event in my life poignantly reminds me that I must not only discern good from evil but good from priorities. My highest and principal priority is to be God solely, my heavenly Father and Creator, God the Son my Redeemer and Savior, and God the Holy Spirit my Sanctifier to live to God’s glory. My triune God demands my total adoration and focus as a total eclipse demands my total awe.
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us,But to Your name give gloryBecause of Your lovingkindness,Because of Your Truth.” (Psalm 115: 1)
I am grateful to God for allowing me to live long enough to see this phenomenal event and to learn these lessons.
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.
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A Martyr’s Last Letter to His Mother
“And now, my good mother, I beg you to show yourself as a virtuous woman in your afflictions, and bear patiently and joyfully this trial that God has sent you, knowing that it is the good will of God against which no one can resist, even if he would. Live the rest of your days in the fear of God, remembering me, and how I served my God till death.”
Among the Reformation martyrs was the author of the Belgic Confession, Guido de Brès. He served as a pastor in present-day Belgium during the Spanish Inquisition. Eventually he was captured by the authorities and spent a long time languishing in a dirty, sewage-filled dungeon in Valenciennes. Nevertheless, as he lived out his last days somehow he was able to find the strength and resources to write several letters. One of them was a letter to his mother. I’m pleased to be able to share this letter with you, as it gives a personal glimpse of this brother and father in the faith.
Last Letter from Guido De Brès to His Mother
The grace and mercy of God the Father, and the love of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ, be for your eternal salvation.
My dear and beloved mother, when I consider what a sorrow my imprisonment is to you, and how hard to bear because of the enormous maternal love you have always had for me, I cannot keep my heart from becoming sad nor from greatly trembling within me. And certainly I can say from experience that it is a hard parting that takes place between a mother and her child. But the parting would be much harder if a man would leave his God and give up eternal life. I am somewhat relieved of my sadness when I think of my calling and the cause of the Son of God which I have upheld before men.
It seems to me that I hear Jesus Christ, my Master, speaking with a loud voice and saying to me, “Whoever shall love his father and his mother more than me, he is not worthy to be one of mine” (Matthew 10). Then he says to me, “Truly I say to you that every one who has given up home, or parents, or brothers or children for the kingdom of God shall receive much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life” (Matthew 19). Such words cause me to put all other things aside, and my heart leaps for joy. When I think of the certainty and truth of the one who has spoken thus, I can say with St. Paul, “I esteem all things as dung and consider them for loss, for the excellence of the knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ.”
You too, my beloved, must rise above your sorrows with the consideration of the good will of God, who wants to bring glory to himself through this poor, fragile body. Restrain your grief remembering how it has pleased God to call me to his service against all human expectation. Recall how, before I was born, you were going through Mons to hear a certain Italian Jesuit, who was preaching in the streets. You said then, praying to God, “My God, if it could be that you could give me such a child, even maybe the child that I am carrying, to preach your Word.” You said it and God heard your prayer. Because he is rich and merciful, and because he can do all things more abundantly than we dare to ask, he gave you more than you asked for. You asked that the child you were carrying could be like that Jesuit. He became a Jesuit alright – but not of the new sect that people call “Jesuit.” In order to make me a true imitator of Jesus, the Son of God, I was called to the holy ministry, not to preach the doctrines of men, but the pure and simple Word of Jesus and his Apostles. This I have done up to the present with a good and pure conscience, seeking nothing else than the salvation of men, not my own glory nor my own profit.
Witness the zeal of God which has been in me, accompanied by many crosses, afflictions and sufferings, and not for a small number of days, but for many years. To all these things you ought to return for your comfort, and you should consider yourself fortunate that God has given you the honour to have carried, nurtured, and reared one of his servants – who will receive the crown and glory of martyrdom. Then it is not for you to object, if my God wants to now receive me as a pleasant-smelling sacrifice and strengthen the elect by my death.
I myself am joyful and I pray that you will join with me, knowing that all will be for my great good and salvation. I submit myself to what it pleases him to do to me, knowing that he will not do anything that is not just and fair. He is my God and Father, having only good will toward me and the power to deliver me, if he finds it good to do so. Therefore, I rest in that knowledge. If he has found it pleasing to take me from this poor life now, I shall be taken in the prime of life, having laboured diligently and sowed in the Church of his Son. He has already allowed me to see the fruit of my labours and trials, having blessed and made my ministry so fruitful that the Church will feel the effects for many years after my death. I am happy to see that which my God has permitted me to see. There is yet much good seed that I sowed, which is still in the ground, but after being watered with my blood, it will grow and manifest itself amazingly. What more then should I now desire, since the will of my God has been done, and I am ready to reap in heaven in glory and incorruption the fruit of that which I have sowed on earth with tears in my eyes? And I hope that the many people which I have won to my Lord Jesus through the Gospel will be my glory and my crown in the last day.
I am going along the way where all the prophets passed, and the Apostles, even the only Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and thousands of martyrs who shed their blood for the witness of the Gospel. It is the voice of Christ who says, “Enter by the narrow way, for I say unto you that many will try to enter and will not be able.” It is the narrow way of which Ezra speaks, which is not wide, and under which is a great river and a fire which devours those who stumble and fall. This road leads to a city filled with blessings, where the children of God have want of nothing. What should it profit me if I should travel with the world along the broad and spacious way, only to fall at the end into ruin and eternal perdition. I know well that if I should renounce my good Lord Jesus and return in my impurity and pollution to this life, the world would embrace me and respect my person. But it would not be pleasing to God to renounce my Saviour, to put idols in his place, and put profane things in the place of his precious blood. I have served him for more than twenty years, and never has he failed me in anything, showing to me always a love which surpasses the understanding of men. Beyond this great benefit, he gave himself to the inglorious death on the cross in order to give me eternal life. What then? Should I leave the living to find refuge among the dead? Should I give up heaven for the earth? Eternal things for temporal? Abandon the true life for bodily death?
He who alone is my strength and my rock will keep me from it, and himself will be my shield and defense and the strength of my life in my weakness and infirmity. I can say with St. Peter, when Christ asked him after many of his disciples had abandoned him, “And you,” he said, “do you not also wish to go as the others?” Peter replied, “Lord, to whom should we go? For with you are the words of eternal life.” The Lord my God will not permit me to leave with the world the fountains of living water, in order to dig cisterns which do not hold any water, as God so rightly said by his prophet Jeremiah of his people Israel. I believe with conviction that I am not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. I can say with Moses that I would rather be afflicted with the people of God, than to enjoy for a time the pleasures of sin. I would rather esteem the favour of Christ as greater riches than all the treasures of the world, for I look to the reward, and trust that the power of faith will not fail me in my need. For by it I have already overcome the world and all my adversaries. The Apostle has showed me how the faithful ones of the Old Testament, having the same faith, surmounted their afflictions. He speaks of some as being regarded as drums to be beaten, who refused to be delivered, hoping for a better resurrection, and of others who were mocked and battered. They were arrested and put in prison. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were put to death with the sword. They wandered about dressed in the skins of sheep and goats. They were destitute, afflicted, and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered about in the deserts, in mountains, and dens and caverns of the earth. All these holy people have overcome the world through their faith at death, and stand as victors though people killed them.
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