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Homosexuality

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Celebration

Posted on February 24, 2023

I have no words. Of all the things Cheez-It could have chosen to picture in celebration of an anniversary, this celebrated drag queen is what my Cheez-it loving and innocent grandchildren will have to see if they see the “celebration” boxes. The celebration is all about the thirtieth year of reality TV–an entertainment venue that, for Christians is not celebration-worthy, in the first place.

The word “celebration” is often associated with the most base aspects of our national thinking. The celebration aspect of sin more often envelopes the people of God than the actual participation aspect. We are not drag queens, but we look the other way when members of our congregations become involved in homosexuality and/or transgenderism. We fail to really help the teens who come to us acknowledging temptation and/or asking questions about bi-sexuality or homosexuality. We attend gay weddings or excuse the support of family members who continue to post their support of sexual sin (whether in general fornication or marriages that are adulterous)  on social media. It’s not that our congregations are filled with malicious people or deceivers. It’s more often that the one who is malicious or deceptive is not approached with meekness in search of restoration. It’s that we never progress to the point of purifying the body from sin.  In short, it’s not always verses 20-31 that we violate. We usually violate verse 32 first: 

Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

I’m just saying we should know His judgment and restrain from nodding acceptance to those who are the actual participants in malignity, homosexuality, backbiting, deceiving, etc….In the Lord’s church, if we fail in our practice of seeking restoration and guiding through discipline that culminates in withdrawal of fellowship when all avenues to urge and facilitate repentance have been taken, we are nodding the acceptance. We become, by default, a part of the celebration. It’s easy to become very relaxed about sin when society around us is pushing and celebrating the very things from which we have been washed (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). 

In 1 Corinthians 5, in  the very context of a discussion (command) about withdrawal of fellowship, we see a metaphor about the old covenant’s Passover feast…the celebration. The text is rich in its comparison. If we want to celebrate, as God’s people the passing over of our sins—our gift of life and salvation through His blood—we must cast out the leaven of sin. It’s not just about personal avoidance of sin. It’s about keeping the body free from the  world’s celebration of it. That’s a huge challenge in 2023. It’s an especially huge burden for shepherds.

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

Let’s celebrate this way!

(And also, though those extra toasty ones are in the amazing category of snackables,  I can’t bring myself to buy Cheez-Its right now. I just can’t.)

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Princess Gonzorella

Posted on August 4, 2021

It’s predatory and unfair to introduce gender dysphoria to preschoolers. Conditioning children to be accepting of and to normalize “changing” genders by dressing this propaganda in their favorite muppet babies is insidious and typical of the father of lies.

https://news.yahoo.com/apos-muppets-babies-apos-character-205420699.html

Parents, we have to be ever vigilant. I cannot single-handedly roll back the tidal wave of the influence of the LGBTQ movement, but I can shield the children who spend lots of time at my house from this wicked assault on their innocence. We started out shielding them by only permitting kids you-tube (not generic you-tube) on our devices and limiting the time even with that. But now, kids you-tube is spotted with various forms of wickedness and has been invaded by the LGBTQ agenda. It’s all too accessible unless you are sitting right there with your kids every moment. Any careless exposure to network television, cable tv, Netflix or Amazon Prime has long since been harmful to our families. 

But this?! Let’s be discerning with availability in our homes, promotion (buying of toys and parapernalia) and exposure (allowing our kids to be with other kids unattended who may have access to devices). Let’s be the parents (and grandparents) and make sanctification a priority. Gone are those days when we could be Christians and still be much like the communities in which we live. It’s no longer just about abstaining from the appearance of evil in our own actions. It has to be about being sure we are not in the “approval” group:

Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them (Romans 1:32).

 I recently had a thirteen-year-old in the car with me after a youth event. She told me about a cousin who had decided she was gay. This cousin asked her what she thought about this “change”. In telling me about this conversation with a young cousin, she indicated that she, herself (the young girl in my car), could be supportive of this choice without ever being tempted to make the same choice. This kind of thinking comes from an early saturation of an approving media and indoctrination in school; a media and education system that makes our children “feel” gentle and loving if they approve the LGBTQ movement and “feel” harsh and unloving if they call it sin. 

And yes. Of course, Romans one places other sins we should loathe in this category. And every time our children are introduced to any of them in a powerfully approving context (especially before they can understand the complex issues surrounding them), we should vigilantly wrap them in our protective arms and be ever more determined that we, as parents, will be the ones in charge of dispensing information to them from the heavenly Father’s omniscient perspective. Telling a child about sexual “preferences” and transient gender identification in any context, much less an approving context, prior to elementary school is an unthinkable predatory pre-school brainwashing. They, in such cases, are victims who cannot contextualize, in any sense, this information. 

I’m praying today for godly parents who are sincerely and precariously trying to navigate the path to launching godly adults in a society that so desperately needs their collective voice for Him. Parental protection and provision often call for much prayer and prohibition.

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

A Grandmother’s Recurring Nightmare… (This time it’s Blue’s Clues)

Posted on June 7, 2021


I really do wonder where this will end. Then I sit back and consider that I actually know where it will end. Words are the vehicle of expressed thought and I know I will have arrived at the end destination when I can hear these: “Come ye blessed of my father. Enter into the joys of your Lord.”  In the meantime, though, there are some recurring and growing concerns I have about the navigation of my grandchildren to the end destination. There are some extremely wicked forces that are trying to divide and distract God’s people. They are constantly trying to make my grandchildren swallow the lie that they are oppressors simply because of their skin color and, on the other hand, they are trying to convince some of your dark-skinned grandchildren that they are necessarily oppressed just because of their darker skin. And we forget we are sisters.

The devil uses our awful time of distraction by unnecessary  division to cause us to ignore the REAL enemy. We listen to the culture and  forget who is ecstatic when God’s people become divided. He’s Satan and he is willing to use the most vile techniques and weapons to attack the most vulnerable BEFORE they can even understand the battle arena. 

Take, for instance, the weapon that’s in our faces this month. It is unconscionable that YouTube for kids is using the formerly innocent BLUE’S CLUES cartoon to put what God called abomination into the minds of our two-year-olds: Take a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4vHegf3WPU

The shock factor, for me, of such blatant lies from hell, itself, being shared with innocent children by the hundreds of thousands around our land, never abates. I just have a very difficult time fathoming that we are really to this point. I showed the video to my husband and said “What can we do?” He said, “The devil wants people to believe the ship has sailed. He wants Christians to think there is nothing we can do. But we have to keep warning godly parents. We have to keep saying truth.” 

I believe we also must understand that distractions and divisions break down our armor against the devil. We must love each other, in the body of Christ. We must prefer each other. We must give one another the benefit of the doubt when motives are called into question. We must throw off the narratives in our society that convince us that we are persecutors of one another or that we are persecuted by one another. As God’s people, we should look outside the body to the REAL persecution that’s assaulting the faith of our kids. We should unite in our opposition to what the devil is trying to do to our children. And we should fight against all forces that are aligned with promotion of the acceptance of what God calls sin, even if they are masked by titles which state facts that we believe like “Black Lives Matter.” Of course black lives matter. Of course of all of God’s children believe that obvious statement. But we must be very careful to not let the world steal the truths, principles and symbols from God’s Word—black lives matter, the rainbow, love wins, etc… to deceive us,  to distract us, as HIs people, from our mission of soul-winning. And some of the souls we have to protect from division and distraction are those of our children and grandchildren. 

When the devil is planting vile affection though Blue’s Clues cartoons, we know he is stooping to new lows in America. We’d better unite as sisters (moms) in Christ and identify the real persecutors—the real enemy. Let’s be careful not to allow the world’s agenda to divide us, as His people. There’s a real enemy out there and it’s not your brothers and sisters of different skin colors. He’s busy. He’s creative. He wants the most vulnerable of our tribe. Oppression is a real thing and the devil is all about it. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Persecution. Here and Now.

Posted on April 22, 2021

We all knew it was coming and we all know it is only the beginning. But we know that God still has His people in His bundle (1 Samuel 25:29) of life. Faithful elders in one of our American towns are under public attack for withdrawing fellowship from a member who has divorced her husband and entered a very public lesbian relationship.

Notice just three important key points that Christians should remember:

1. The denunciation of this sin and the withdrawal are Biblical requirements for those who are following Scripture. (Romans 1: 26-28; 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11, 1 Corinthians 5:1-8). The Holy Spirit left no room for disputation about that.

2. Publicizing sin is never the purpose of withdrawal of fellowship. Elders did not/do not wish to make it known in communities that there’s sin in the church. (That’s antithetical to their purposes.) The sinner announced her sin in a broad and public way. The addressing of the sin was done/is done in private communication up until the date of withdrawal . Even then, the nature of the sin is not always specified and the announcement of withdrawal is made only to the members of the local body for which the elders are responsible. 

3. When one becomes a member of the church in a community, it’s an exercise of religious liberty. No one forces anyone to be a member of the New Testament church. People willingly place their souls under the care of the shepherds of a church, willingly giving elderships the responsibility to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance in protecting their souls from loss in this commanded way.  The assigned task of elders is grave (Hebrews 13:17).  May we support and encourage those who are serious about their responsibilities. 

True persecution of godly men and their families has ensued as a result of their commitment to following the Scriptures. I would ask each woman who reads to pray fervently for the church right now; especially for her elders and their families. This is the quickly emerging and fiery persecution that the people of God are facing in a country in which religious liberties are at stake. This one thing is sure: Our citizenship in heaven is secure. Romans 8:28 is happening this week. Things will work out for the ultimate benefit of His people even if that benefit is the ultimate rest around the throne. There IS a way of escape for godly people who are determined to follow the directives of the Holy Spirit given in Scripture, even if we find that way to be fraught with peril and even if the escape route guides us more quickly to death and victory (1 Corinthians 10:13). Let’s be prayerful for the men of God who are privileged to partake in a significant way right now in the sufferings of our Lord (2 Timothy 1:8). As mothers and grandmothers, let’s be doubly vigilant to prepare our children for life in the new America in which there will be fewer and fewer lukewarm members of the body. Those who commit to being in the body will be signing up for persecution like we’ve never faced in this country. Our kids have hard days ahead of them.

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Ties in the Social Distance #4

Posted on March 19, 2020

My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons from Philippians 4:8 for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but  we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. Blessings.

From Glenn:

 

Thursday — Whatever Is Pure

When Paul wrote that we are to think on things that are pure, he used a word defined by Strong’s as, innocent, modest, perfect: — chaste, clean, pure. This is in sync with other passages that place our sexuality in an elevated category when it comes to protection and purity.  Paul showed us the uniqueness of sexual sin when he wrote “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18).  He went on to say “…because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband” (1 Cor. 7:2).  Jesus put sexual sin in a unique category when He taught, “…whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery” (Mt. 19:9).  Of the plethora of instructions older women could give younger women about marriage and the home, Paul makes a short list and includes this: “…Admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste…”(Tit. 2:4-5).  

Think of all the harmful behaviors that potentially destroy marriages and consider that Jesus elevates this one sin—fornication— to be the exclusive basis on which divorce and remarriage can occur with God’s approval.  I doubt we will ever fully understand the depth of spiritual significance involved in this act. Fornication is a sin with profound consequences, and God always references it with great sobriety. 

Mankind shakes a fist at heaven over God’s sexual laws.  Hell has persuaded people to embrace homosexuality and to proudly espouse the joy of the fluidity of  gender. A man can choose to be a woman if he likes and people are bound to use pronouns that suit that unfortunate pretense. God has given such people up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, (Rom. 1:24).  Some of the strongest condemnations of Scripture are aimed at sexual sin and perversion.  We understand why. Sexual immorality is dark and destroys lives and homes. 

Even members of the body of Christ sometimes make the sad mistake of flirting with sexual sin by wearing revealing clothing, by dancing inappropriately, and by participating in other lustful and reckless behaviors.  They sin against their own bodies and invite haunting ghosts of regret into their future lives.

In contrast, consider the bright light of purity—not the absence of sexuality but the safety and joy of sex within God’s prescribed boundaries.  In Biblical marriage, sex knows no broken violation of God’s holy word, no guilt, no bitter and lingering heartache, no young girls with shattered lives facing unwanted pregnancies, no teen boys with STD’s. This sexuality is pure. It is God-designed, God-approved, and, in fact, it is God-commanded for those who are married (I Cor. 7:1-2).  It is joyful. It is bonding in an incomparable way.  It is the ultimate embrace. Its purity is traditionally depicted by a white dress, and a honeymoon that is physically fulfilling and holy at the same time.  Sexuality is a deep celebration in marriage because the act of marriage binds husband and wife to one another for their entire lives.

Not all sex is equal.  We must force ourselves to contrast and separate the world’s corrupted sex and the purity of sex in a happy, God-approved marriage.  Then we are doing what Paul teaches us here:  We are thinking on the things that are pure and lovely.

Tonight’s Story Time Earlier in the day, prepare yourself for family story time by reading carefully Genesis 41 so you’ll have all the details in mind. 

Tell the children that Joseph spent two additional years in prison, after God interpreted the dreams of the baker and butler.  But God had not forgotten Joseph.  He had big plans for  Joseph to lead his family into the protection of Egyptian abundance. (Say this in terms your kids will understand, of course.)  After telling the account (Gen. 41:1-32) leading up to revealing Joseph’s revelation to Pharaoh, move on to these discussion questions:

1.  When God gave Joseph the interpretation of the baker’s and butler’s dreams, what future purpose did He have in mind?  God is not limited as a man and He makes plans into the future.  You do not know everything about God’s purpose for your future, but you do know some things for sure. What are those things?  (Have a discussion here about being faithful through all of life, finding a follower of Christ to marry, working hard in a career that God approves or raising children to be faithful to God.)

2.  Why do you think God had Pharaoh dream about cows and ears of grain instead of just having him dream about years of plenty and of famine in Egypt?  How did God make a picture in Pharaoh’s mind so that this dream would be “stuck” in his head? Tell your children the cows were sacred, like gods or idols, to the Egyptians. Imagine how shocked Pharaoh would have been to dream about sacred cows being eaten up! God is brilliant! 

3.  In 41:16, after Pharaoh had invited Joseph to interpret the dreams about the cows and grain, Joseph again gave full credit to God, not himself. You should practice doing that now so that it will be a natural thing to speak of God’s will and blessings in your life for all your lifetime.  What important blessings in your life right now can you point to and say, “I didn’t do that. God did.”? When we are staying well, having enough food to last us through this time of sickness, being able to enjoy being with our families at home, who is it that gives us this place to be safe and well? When we are ill, to whom do we pray for strength and healing? Practice asking your children if they are well and healthy. Have them respond “Yes. God has been so good to us…” or “Yes, and we are thanking God..” or “Yes. Praise God.” 

Tonight, have your children make a card for someone they know who is sick in your congregation or neighborhood. Have each child draw a picture and write “We are praying for you…” followed by the words from Genesis 41:16 “God shall give an answer of peace.”  Help those children who can’t yet write. You might write the text out and then have the very young child put his handprint on the card with paint or ink or just draw around his hand.  Be sure to remember to mail these tomorrow.

Remind your children that Joseph was doing something in this chapter that was going to save many lives. 

Pray with your children. Have your children help you make a list of people they know who are sick. Pray for each by name. Remember to pray for all of those people who are sick with COVID. Pray that your family will be healthy both “in our bodies and in our pure hearts.” 

Repeat the Golden Rule with your children. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Teen Vogue: Not just about Hairstyles and Makeup, anymore.

Posted on October 17, 2019


I hope there are no parents reading BYH who think  magazines like Teen Vogue should be accessible lifestyle information for our teen girls. I think not. But what I’m not so certain about is our diligence—even our ability –in the prevention of that access. (After all, I’m posting quotes today that are just a click away…)  Even more important (and more difficult) is the prevention of influence that almost always comes through access; even through second-hand access to incredibly wicked stories put out by authority figures, who apparently have no conscience.  In other words, while your daughter may not read Teen Vogue, someone she knows, and who may have some influence in her circle of friends, probably does.

The material that’s the subject of today’s post IS, at least in the case of the sodomy tutorial, adults peddling sexual information to minors. Some of the information readily available in Teen Vogue magazine would be classified as criminal if privately texted to a minor by an adult. Unbelievably wicked. 

Examples are plentiful, but let me give you just three recent ones:

An article touting the decriminalization of prostitution and even encouraging the sex trade as legitimate work for income. Here’s a snippet: 

“I am a doctor, an expert in sexual health, but when you think about it, aren’t I a sex worker? And in some ways, aren’t we all?”  (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/why-sex-work-is-real-work)

 

A tutorial on how to engage in sodomy (although it has been recognized, even by the CDC, as the riskiest type of sexual behavior.)  This article is perverse and obscene (and, frankly, unbelievable) on many levels, giving graphics of anatomy and telling teens about nerve endings in the anus that  “feel awesome when stimulated.” Here are a couple of blurbs, but these are not the the most explicit statements made, obviously: 

This is anal 101, for teens, beginners and all inquisitive folk,” author Gigi Engle wrote in “A Guide to Anal Sex.”

“There is no wrong way to experience sexuality…” (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/anal-sex-what-you-need-to-know)

Talk about “…Claiming to be wise, they have become fools.” This has to be the epitome of that phenomenon.

A  guide to obtaining an abortion without parental knowledge of the pregnancy or consent to the procedure ( i.e. the murder of their grandchildren).

“But if teenage me had a hard time broaching the subject of a hypothetical pregnancy with my pro-choice parents, I can only imagine how overwhelming it might feel to announce an actual pregnancy, much less a desire to get an abortion — in any circumstance, really, but especially to parents who are against it, and especially during a time in American history when the bodily autonomy of people with uteruses is under serious threat,” … “it’s only logical that if teens are mature enough to become parents, they are mature enough to decide whether or not they want to give birth.”  (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-to-get-an-abortion-if-youre-a-teen) 

Moms in 2019 have to be vigilant. Perhaps it would be a good idea to pick up a stack of Teen Vogue magazines at your grocery store or Supercenter, take it to the service desk, ask to see a manager, and ask him if he’s good with his daughter or grand-daughter reading about any of the above (or whatever the perversion of the month happens to be). Sobriety and vigilance are Biblically recommended tools against the one who is prowling to devour our children (I Peter 5:8). He’s on the prowl, for sure, in 2019.