Chick fil A Does Not Compromise the Gospel-AGAIN!

I guess you'd have to have been on Mars or in a cave for a long time not to know about the furor Chick fil A caused by stating it was for the Biblical definition of marriage; one man, one woman. The LGBT community and their supporters railed against them. For a long time the media, which champions most, if not all, liberal-progressive causes ran negative story after negative story about this unashamedly Christian-run company. Yet, the company and its management stood firm in their beliefs.

Fast forward to the heinous evil terrorist attack by a radical Muslim in Orlando. 49 people killed, over 50 wounded. A horribly sad event. And Chick fil A in Orlando, whose corporate policy is to be closed on Sunday to honor the Christian Sabbath, opened their doors on a Sunday to feed those who were voluntarily giving blood for the wounded of the attack. And all the food was free. The company and that store in particular, once again stood firm in their beliefs.

Though, on the surface, this might seem to go against the Christian beliefs of this family-run company, it does not. And if you are thinking that, it proves that the vast majority of America and the world do not know or understand the Christian faith. This is for several reasons, the two main ones are the failure of the Christian church to effectively communicate our beliefs to the community around us and the failure of the media to honestly report on and about the Christian faith.

You see, if you got to know us personally, you'd see what we were all about and I would guess your opinion of us would change for the better.

Now it's true that we believe what God says in the Bible about marriage, but true Christians also believe, more importantly, that we are to love people (our neighbors). It is, after all, one of the two greatest commandments according to Jesus Christ. The other being we are to love God.

As little Christs (the definition of "Christian") our example is the sinless, perfect Christ. Jesus ignored the Jewish Sabbath to love His neighbor. Luke and Mark report on two different times Jesus healed someone (a man and a woman) on the Sabbath Day. You see, our Lord and Savior obviously thought people were more important than religious tradition and so do we Christians. Chick fil A is a wonderful, real-world example of that love.

So, please, if you've had a bad opinion of Chick fil A, I ask you to reconsider it, as well if you've had a negative opinion of Christians. If there's one thing Christians and Chick fil A do not want to do, that is leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth.

Love Your Neighbor-Christians are Not Enemies of the LGBT Community

We woke up yesterday to the horrific news of America's worst mass murder in our history. At least 50 dead and 53 wounded. 103 people shot in one venue in one horribly evil cowardly act.

And the perpetrator was an American citizen of the Muslim faith who, according to those who knew him, was usually angry, and has now been found to have pledged allegiance, not to America, but to ISIS.

As is usual in dark times, the call goes out to pray for the dead, the affected families, the community, the state, our country and the world. But, pray to whom?

As a Christian, I know I am not a citizen of this world. Once I believed and was baptized I became a new creation, an adopted child of the one true living God, a citizen of heaven. My allegiance is to God our Father, Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit our Counselor. But, is that the same as a Muslim pledging allegiance to ISIS? No, it is not.

Let's review the last mass murder of gays by a Christian.

Well, frankly, there's nothing to review.

True followers of Jesus Christ do not kill. Do not harm. Do not condemn. We love.

Sounds trite, but it's true. We love by praying, by showing up to help, by giving our time, talent and treasure. We love because Jesus said that was one of the two greatest commands He has given us. The other was loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. And, since we pledge our allegiance and our love to Jesus Christ, we want to follow all the commands He's given us because we know it glorifies Him and makes us stand out to others so we can then talk about how great a relationship with the Messiah is. That is what spreading the Gospel, or Good News is all about.

So what?

The time of calling Christians gay-hating homophobes has come to an end with this evil event in Orlando. It is not Christians who shoot gay people. We do not throw gay people off roofs. We love gay people. We pray for gay people. At least true, Bible-believing, Jesus Christ following Christians do. Anyone else just is not a true Christian.

True Christians do not ask people what their sin is. We have our own sin to deal with. GASP! Christians SIN????? Yes, we are not perfect. We are forgiven, though. We have the assurance that Jesus's death, which was necessary for our sins to be forgiven, has been applied to our lives for our sins. And that forgiveness is so overwhelming that we spread the love shown to us by Jesus Christ to others who do not know Him yet.

When Jesus said, "God so loved the world" (emphasis mine), He meant every one falls into at least one of these or other sinful categories. But, because of Jesus's death on the cross, we can have those sins become as if we've never committed them, by believing in Christ and being baptized.
adulterer, thief, murderer, liar, cheat, phony religious person and, yes, every homosexual. Every

As John wrote, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

And forgiveness is something we all need.

We just need to admit it.