I’m sure I’m showing my age but…how do you make sense of a culture in which 15 year-olds in our neighboring state of Oregon can’t donate blood, get a tattoo or even catch some rays in a tanning bed without their parent’s consent but…are you ready…they can get a sex change without telling mommy or daddy? 

How do you make sense of a nation that virtually overnight demonizes and publically shames people who agree with over 5,000 years of human family history when it comes to defining marriage as a social institution between a man and a woman but holds nearly pornographic “Pride Parades” for those demanding total acceptance of homosexual sex and “gay marriage”?  

It feels strangely like we’re living out Alice’s Wonderland where nonsense has become the new sense and common sense has become…well, nearly extinct. 

I know, I’m not being very politically correct to ask these kinds of questions.  People with moral values rooted in their divine Creator are supposed to be quiet these days while the rest of the world shouts for biblical immorality.  But that’s about as close as our culture comes today to anything biblical.

The prophets of God have always been on the “wrong side” of sociological and societal evolution.  That is probably because the history of mankind has been and will continue to be, according to biblical prophecy, a long line of de-evolution from innocence in the Garden to insolence in modern immorality.  At least true prophets didn’t have to worry a lot about saving up for a long retirement!

But woe to the prophet who fails to speak about impending judgment when sin abounds (Ezekiel 33:1-7; Luke 6:26). And woe to the pastor who fails to teach accurately, powerfully, faithfully and lovingly the truth of God that applies to the error of the day, particularly moral and theological error in the church (Rev. 2:12-23).

That is why I’m taking several weeks to address a very contemporary, very current reality unfolding in America and, yes, in many churches—a surrender of biblical sexuality in the face of legal redefinitions.  Many a self-proclaimed Christian and pastor are doing exegetical gymnastics in order to explain away the clear understanding of God’s word when it comes to sexual morality.  In this contemporary environment the church cannot afford to be ignorant, confused, prudish or uninformed. 

So if you don’t mind being counter-culture, biblically informed and relationally equipped to engage people God has set us among in order to live out the Gospel of Christ, then join us Sunday at 10:00 a.m. at The Healing Rooms (115 E. Pacific) as we look at Freedoms in Conflict—a study of what God calls us to in the church, the home and the culture when it comes to human sexuality.  The doors open at 9:30 a.m. and coffee is available until the service begins at 10:00.  In addition to worship in song and the Word, we’ll be hearing some wonderful testimonies from our Changing Lives ministry that meets every Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.  So come a few minutes early to get acquainted with people you don’t yet know very well and print off your name tag so that people like me with short memories can come to know you by name. 

Finally, mark Sunday, July 26^th, for another Mosaic Family Picnic.  We’ll be gathering at Coeur d’Alene Park in Brown’s Addition after the service for some great food and fellowship.

Thanks for your help and patience as we adjust to our new surroundings.  Lord willing, we’ll see you Sunday!

Pastor John