IS HOMOSEXUALITY A SIN?

Copied from the sermon notes of Don Elmore

July 5, 2020

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 14:24 “And there were also sodomites in the land: [and] they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.”

I was wrong. I said that the only statue that would not be taken down by the “protesters” was Alpert Pike. But it was. “Protesters” toppled the only statue of the Confederate General in the nation’s capital and set it on fire on Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in the United States, amid continuing anti-racism demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Cheering “demonstrators” jumped up and down as the 11-foot statue of Albert Pike— wrapped with chains—wobbled on its high granite pedestal before falling backward, landing in a pile of dust. “Protesters” then set a bonfire and stood around it in a circle as the statue burned, chanting, “No justice, no peace!” and “No racist police!”

Eyewitness accounts and videos posted on social media indicated that police were on the scene but didn’t intervene. President Donald Trump quickly tweeted about the toppling, calling out D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and writing: “The DC police are not doing their job as they watched a statue be ripped down and burned. These people should be immediately arrested. A disgrace to our Country!”

The Pike statue has been a source of controversy over the years. The former Confederate General was also a longtime influential leader of the Freemasons, who revere Pike and who paid for the statue. Pike’s body is interred at the D.C. headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, which also contains a small museum in his honor.

The statue, dedicated in 1901, was in Judiciary Square about half a mile from the U.S. Capitol. It was built at the request of Masons who successfully lobbied Congress to grant them land for the statue if Pike would be depicted in civilian, not military, clothing.

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There were several articles in the Cincinnati Enquirer that were disturbing to me since my last sermon. The first one was from the June 27, 2020 Sports page, in an article entitled, “CLUBHOUSE ALLIES; Reds' pitchers use platforms for Black Lives Matter support:

Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Matt Bowman doesn’t have a large social media platform. He has a little more than 2,000 followers on Twitter, with most of his tweets from four or five years ago.

With people protesting around the country for racial equality, Bowman felt it was a moment when he needed to speak out. He was inspired by social media posts from outspoken Black players around the league and wanted to publicly show support for them. He reached out to teammate Jesse Biddle, who had nearly 9,000 followers on Instagram, and a few other players about matching donations to social justice charities, like the NAACP, Equal Justice Initiative and the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with a clean-up fund in Minneapolis…”

[This article is about a Cincinnati Reds' pitcher who was “inspired”, not from anything that the Bible said, but from “outspoken Black players” who play in the American professional baseball league. So, to show his support for racial justice, which implies that he feels that is a great injustice now, he along with another pitcher, will match donations to social justice charities…but is the Southern Poverty Law Center ever called a social justice charity?]

‘I think I’ve always seen myself as an ally to the Black Lives Matter movement, but I definitely never felt as motivated to speak my mind on a social platform before’ Biddle said. ‘I’ve always felt motivated in an interaction, one-on-one, but I’ve definitely drawn the line on making it social, making it something that is outward-facing. That’s just not OK anymore.’

‘Was there any fear of backlash for speaking out on social media?’

‘I’ve lost a couple hundred followers,’ Biddle said. ‘I’ve had some people in my direct messages telling me how I’m perpetuating some leftist propaganda. But I don’t need them, right? They can take a walk. I’m standing up for what I believe in. I’m speaking out on something that I’m very passionate about and I’m also just trying to spur a conversation.’

‘That’s all this is about. Just shining the light on what is a racist America and what needs to change.’”

[What are the Red's pitcher’s views on abortion, LGBTQ, race-mixing, etc.? He said that he always felt himself as an “ally to the Black Lives Matter movement.” Is he saying that he is in favor of the above anti-Christ views?]

The article goes on and talks about what is happening in the National Basketball Association where players wore “I can’t breathe shirts” and the National Football League with Colin Kaepernick leading silent protests when he kneeled during the national anthem. I thought the article was out of place on the sports page and belonged on the pages of Pravda.

Remember what charities the two Reds pitchers were matching donations to? One of them was the Southern Poverty Law Center. In the same newspaper, look how this organization is involved in the next story.

The next article was from page 5A from the June 27, 2020 Cincinnati Enquirer. The article was entitled, “Controversial group partners with state on faith response”.

“A group considered by some to be controversial partnered with the governor’s office to offer guidance to the state’s faith communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

[Now, what group was considered by some to be controversial?]

“The website for Citizens for Community Values (CCV) previously held controversial statements about same-sex marriage, which led the Southern Poverty Law Center to name it a ‘hate group’ in 2015 and 2016 until the statements were removed in 2017.”

[Citizens for Community Values were called a “hate group” by the SPLC because of their statements against same-sex marriages. The president of the CCV called the “Southern Poverty Law Center’s agenda political, a frequent complaint of critics who say it abuses its position as the nation’s most prominent hate-group watchdog to get money from liberal donors.”]

The third article occurred on Saturday, June 26, 2020 in the Cincinnati Enquirer on the front page. The article was entitled, along with a picture of Obergefell, “Landmark marriage ruling marks 5 years; Obergefell continues his fight for equality after Supreme court’s 2015 decision.”

The article was about Jim Obergefell’s marriage to “John Arthur, who was gravely ill with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Because Ohio at the time didn’t allow same-sex unions, the couple flew to Maryland to exchange vows.

Arthur died of the disease three months later, and Obergefell sued to be listed on the death certificate as Arthur’s husband. That case was one of six argued together before the high court. Obergefell was the lead plaintiff, meaning the case bore his name, though he was joined by dozens of other plaintiffs…

Genhardstein [the attorney for Obergefell, remember him from my other sermons?] recalled being in Washington, D.C., the day the ruling was announced. He called Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley with the news. Later that day, Cranley performed a public wedding to marry [sodomite] couples in Downtown’s Fountain Square.”

So, the leftist, communist, media is bombarding its viewers, listeners and readers constantly with its far-left positions. If a person or group says anything different to their positions, they are either shouted down or censored. Eventually there will be no opposition. Who should be the opposition? Who is supposed to be the opposition? It is the church of our Savior. Let’s go back to our introductory verse.

1 Kings 14:24: “And there were also sodomites in the land: [and] they [the sodomites] did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.”

What is the context of this verse? Is this statement good or evil or indifferent? This verse indicates that the Sodomites were evil because it says that they did things which were identical to the same abominations that the Canaanites had done, which the LORD God had cast out before he let the children of Israel in the Promised Land. In other words, the sodomites were no better than the Canaanites in their actions, as they were doing the same thing.

Now, let us look at the previous two verses for some more information:

I Kings 14:22, 23:

22) “And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

23) For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.”

These two verses, along with verse 24, indicate that there were eight sins mentioned that Judah committed during the time of Rehoboam’s reign:

1. Did evil in the sight of the LORD,

2. Provoked Him to jealousy,

3. Committed worse sins than their fathers did,

4. Built high places,

5. Made images,

6. Made groves,

7. Became sodomites,

8. Committed all the abominations of the heathen.

Twenty years later, there was the third king of Judah. For seventeen years there was King Rehoboam, the first king. Then for three more years reigned King Abijam. The third king of Judah was Asa.

1 Kings 15:11, 12:

11) “And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father,

12) And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.”

For around 20 years there were sodomites in the land of Judah. It was called one of the sins of Judah. Then king Asa, who had the third longest reign of all the kings of Judah, took away the sodomites out of the land. Sodomites in the land was a sin; sodomites out of the land was considered good.

Walter Gidding’s brother, who was the financial head of the LGBTQ community in New York, said that it was okay if he was called a “homosexual” or a “gay”, but not a “sodomite.” Why? he was asked. Because “sodomite” is a biblical term.

SHOULD THE CHURCH APPROVE OF HOMOSEXUALS?

So, why is there now a prevalent movement in the Christian Church that says that God approves of homosexuals? There is a 21-year-old who has left college and is speaking up about the issue of being “gay”. He is “gay”, and he has written a book saying that the Bible is in favor of a loving relationship of a man with a man or a woman with a woman. I listened to an hour and seven-minute lecture that he gave in a church in Wichita, Kansas. His name is Matthew Vines. The following are a few quotes from his message:

“We’ve all heard that Leviticus is where the Bible straight-up says that homosexual behavior is an abomination. And yes, it does. It also says that homosexuals should receive the death penalty (!!!). It also says the same thing about eating pork or shellfish, charging interest on loans, and a whole bunch of other restrictions that were a part of the Old Testament Law Code.”

[Matthew admits that Leviticus condemns “homosexual behavior”, eating certain foods, “charging interests on loans,” plus other restrictions. How does he say that they are not now in effect? Watch closely.]

“But for Christians, the Old Testament doesn’t (dare I say ‘shouldn’t?’) settle any issue because Romans 10:4 says that Christ is the end of the law. Which is probably why most Christians today eat [all] meat, use credit cards, wear makeup, and support equality for women. Because, as Hebrews 8:13 says, the old law is obsolete and aging.”

Let’s look at what these verses say:

Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with woman kind: it is abomination.”

Leviticus 20:13:“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”

Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

Hebrews 8:13: “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

Matthew Vines interprets these verses the way that most Christians interpret them. He says that the law of God was done away with the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ. All the laws, statutes, and commandments given in the Old Testament are done away. All the laws that are given in the Old Testament no longer exist. Since they no longer exist, Christians no longer must obey them.

The Christians, which are made up of all races, which now are a part of the New Testament, which is based on love, not hate. This is exactly what the Baptist Church that I was brought up in taught. Jesus Christ put away the Law of God on the cross when He died. We Gentiles no longer must keep the “Jewish” law.

Well, how would you answer him? Is the old law or is it the Old Covenant that is “obsolete and aging?” And who is the New Covenant made with? The non-Jews? Or the House of Judah and the House of Israel?

Was the Law of God totally done away with at the death of the Savior? If it was, then there is no need for the Old Testament, except for the history that it gives.

But, is there another view?

The Wilderness Encampment of Israel

What is the significance of this picture? What one nation on the earth had this encampment? Who was beneath the fire that reached up into the heavens?

Is there a tabernacle anymore? Is there a temple anymore? Why not? Where were these two important buildings? Wasn’t Israel, the people of the covenant, the only people that had God as their king with His throne in the inner part of the tabernacle and later the temple?

For forty years they traveled with either the cloud or the flame leading them. When it stopped, they made camp; when it moved, they moved. God was with them dwelling inside the holy place of the tabernacle. It so frightened the Canaanites nations that they were in fear of the Israelites as to what they would do next.

Today, neither the tabernacle nor the temple is in existence. Don’t you think that all the laws and commandments about the tabernacle and temple, with the priests that served at them are now expired, too. The various animal offerings for sin, the priestly duties, the regulations for priests, for example, are now expired. Not all the Law—just the sacrificial law has expired. Jesus the Christ, our Passover Lamb, ended all sacrificial animal offerings for sin. The laws about interests on loans to brothers, eating pork and other scavengers, and sodomites still apply.

“THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES WAS NOT TO ABOLISH BLACK SLAVERY

The WBTS was fought to create SLAVERY. Lincoln issued an EXECUTIVE ORDER to invade the South and stop “black-slavery” (His wife owned black slaves; his own Republican Party leaders owned black slaves). His Executive Order applied only to black slave owners in the parts of the debt-free South that his armies had conquered by 1863. It did not apply to slave-owners in the NORTH.

The war was instigated to destroy the South’s political power which resulted from the wealth created from its debt-free, self-sufficient-farm-system which had been accumulated in the prior 150 years. Lincoln’s conquering armies burned businesses, cities, towns, houses and mills forcing the bankrupt, desperate slaughtered survivors to borrow money to survive. Usury-banks were established throughout the conquered South in 1865 to provide desperately needed money.

These newly provided usury-banks were the only source of money. Usury-lending 10 and requiring a non-existent 11th to be repaid--is a capital crime:

Ezekiel 18:13: ‘If he ... hath given forth upon usury ... he shall surely die.’ 

The conquered and devastated South, deprived of its vote, was forced to borrow usury--money; making them perpetual SLAVES:

Proverbs 22:7: ‘The borrower is slave to the lender.’”

USURY’s agents conquer and enslave nations having wealth. They instigate wars, defeat selected prey, create poverty and want; station armies to prevent rebellion, and force the ‘chain-of-usury’ about their necks of the conquered, keeping them perpetual Slaves. USURY is Esau’s principal weapon of war. It forces the love of money;

1 Timothy 6:10: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”

Esau and his agents force this love on those he conquers. CONQUERED NATIONS LOVE MONEY.”

--Email from Richard Hoskins.

So, is interest on loans done away with? Compare what happened in South Africa, Great Britain, Germany, Iraq, Libya, etc.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

One recent assertion is, “You can’t be Christian unless you affirm that Black Lives Matter.” On the surface, it seems obvious that to properly represent a position that states all men are created in the image of God you would, indeed, need to affirmatively declare black lives matter. But all men are not created in the image of God.

Who started Black Lives Matter? Do you know? When did the organization begin? What was his or her name or names? What event triggered the movement? I would think the one thing that we would know was that it was a black person who start BLM. And we would be correct.

The Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2013 amid anger over the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the Florida man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. The network of chapters was formed in 2014, following what the organizers called Ferguson October, a national mobilization in response to the shooting death of 18-year-old criminal Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Who were the “organizers?” What job did Obama have when he was a young man? Wasn’t he a “social organizer”? And isn’t organizing a tactic of the communist party? Isn’t social organizing now the basis of the Democratic Party?

I will quote a speaker at the Republican National Conference about Hillary Clinton:

“Now, one of the things that I have learned about Hillary Clinton is that one of her heroes, her mentors was Saul Alinsky [Jewish]. And her senior thesis was about Saul Alinsky. This was someone that she greatly admired and who affected all of her philosophies subsequently.

Now, interestingly enough, let me tell you something about Saul Alinsky. He wrote a book called, ‘Rules for Radicals.’ On the dedication page it acknowledges Lucifer, the original radical who gained his own kingdom...

This is a nation where every coin in our pocket, and every bill in our wallet says ‘In God We Trust.’ So, are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer? Think about that.”

[BLM is following the outline of Saul Alinsky, too. They are “organizers.” That is what the government of Lucifer is called…Communism.]

There have been a whole bunch of entertainers, as well as ballplayers, such as, Lebron James, Drew Brees, Bret Farr, (see beginning of this article), officers of corporations, as well as politicians, etc. who have given money to Black Lives Matter. All three founders were supporters of communists Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Two of its three founders admitted in a taped interview that they are both trained Marxists. Black Lives Matter is extremely well funded organization, supported by many politically correct individuals and organizations.

Now, if you are trained by a Marxist, what are you trained for? A Marxist is a communist, and a Marxist will train you to be a communist. Should we follow individuals who have been trained by a communist?

Black Lives Matter use the communist's sign of the raised closed fist.

The BLM is an evil and demonic hate group, (where is the SPLC when you need them?) with a popularity rating of 62%, which is more than 20% higher than the presidents. In compliance to BLM, many pastors are telling their white congregation to own up to their white privilege. They are falling for the leftists’ bogus guilt trip. BLM is an extreme racist and anti-American hate group. Years ago, BLM declared war on cops and white people. They marched down a NY street chanting, “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!” 

They are like the Weather Underground except they are using race to bring forth their Marxism revolution. Not climate control or illegal immigration; but race. The BLM is building a movement that “can be used by many black folk.”

In an interview with CNN (Communist New Network) anchor Jake Tapper, Patrisse Cullors said that Trump should not be elected president in November, but “he should resign right now.” The Marxists, who are communists, want Trump out of office right now. They are using race to advance a Marxist revolution. They don’t care about race. They don’t care about Black Lives, for look at retired officer Doran, a 77-year-old who was shot during the Minneapolis riots. No one from BLM went to his funeral. Not even Al Sharpton said one sentence about it, let alone give a eulogy. They are using race as the vessel through which to advance a Marxist revolution.

Most Christians and the general public are unaware that Black Lives Matter also supports black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-led groups. Why? Well, one reason is that two of the three founders, maybe all three, are queer. They are lesbians. In fact, one of them is married to a transgendered male (female to male).

Should we follow what these queers are telling us? Should a Christian believe a racial stranger, who is a lesbian, one of which is married to a transgendered male or should they believe what our God has told us in His holy Word?

1. Patrisse Cullors (born June 20, 1983) is an American artist and a communist activist. Cullors is an advocate for prison abolition in Los Angeles and a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. She also identifies as a queer activist, because she is a queer.

   The sought-after activist was born in a poor family and grew up living below the poverty line. She was raised in a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Her family forced her to leave home at the age of 16 when she identified herself as a queer in front of her Jehovah Witness family.

   Later, she started activism while young by enrolling into the Bus Riders Union. Though indulged in the civil rights social movement, she gave continuity to her studies.

   She graduated from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in religion and philosophy. Besides her international activist movements and campaigns, she currently is a teacher at Otis College of Art and Design.

2. Alicia Garza (born January 4, 1961) is an American civil rights activist and writer known for co-founding the international Black Lives Matter movement. She has organized around the issues of health, student services and rights, rights for domestic workers, ending police brutality, anti-racism, and violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people of color.

   Alicia Garza was born in Oakland, California. She grew up as Alicia Schwartz in Marin County in a mixed-raced and mixed-religion household, with a Jewish stepfather and an African American mother. The family ran an antiques business, assisted later by her younger brother, Joey.  

   In her teens, Alicia engaged in activism, promoting school birth control. Enrolling in the University of California, San Diego, she continued her activism by joining the student association and calling for higher pay for the university’s janitors. In her final year at college, she helped organize the first Women of Color Conference, a university--wide convocation held at UCSD in 2002.  She graduated in 2002 with a degree in anthropology and sociology. 

   In 2003 she met Malachi Garza, 24, a transgender man and a community activist. In 2004, Alicia came out as queer to her family. In 2008, she married Malachi and took the name Garza, settling in Oakland

3. Opal Tometi (born August 15, 1984) is a Nigerian-American black human rights activist, writer, strategist, and community organizer. She is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter.  She is the former Executive Director of the United States’ first national immigrant rights organization for people of African descent – the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI).Tometi brought attention to the racial inequities faced by Black people. Before that, Tometi was an active community organizer in her hometown advocating for human rights issues. She has campaigned for advancing human rights, migrant rights, and racial justice worldwide.Opal Tometi with the communists Venezuelan Dictator

All three founders of the Black Lives Matter movement have openly shared their desires to end capitalism. In their online articles, videos, and interviews, all three allude to concepts that originate in socialism, communism, or Marxism (Marx was a son of a Jewish rabbi).

Cullors worked in jail and policing activism as the founder of Dignity and Power Now. Her philosophy rests on the concept of prison abolition and reparations in financial compensation and land redistribution. She promotes BDS—the leftist, antisemitic boycott, divest, and sanction movement—both as a signatory to public statements supporting Palestinians and in articles she’s written. She speaks eloquently about “peoples-led socialist movements” in South America and once was “mentored” by Eric Mann, a former agitator of the Weather Underground domestic terrorism organization.

Garza started her organizing career working in abortion advocacy before moving on to groups like NDWA, SOUL, and POWER—which merged with CJJC in 2014, and RTTC—all of which focus on worker and housing activism via anti-capitalist activism.

Opal Tometi focuses almost exclusively on immigration activism. She has spoken at Left Forum events, shared a stage with Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro, and helped oversee “fair” elections in Venezuela in 2015.

Virtually all the spaces Black Lives Matter and its founders inhabit are associated with leftist or openly socialist worker’s movements. All three women have spoken at Left Forum, a think tank for socialists, which engages high-profile communists, socialists, and Marxists as keynote speakers. Speakers include luminaries such as Marxist Silvia Federici and Frances Fox Piven.

Black Lives Matter has sponsored town hall meetings with leftist extremists even the leftist agitation group Southern Poverty Law Center finds objectionable. They’ve written touching eulogies for mass murderers who brutally suppressed Christianity.

They’ve recreated narratives to characterize a law enforcement officer as inherently aggressive and deceptive, even when forensics have shown their position to be inaccurate.

[In other words, they are liars. While, there a few criminal justice reforms needed, they are not what BLM is advocating. The Bible, for the Christian, has the answer to crime. Not a bunch of queers, Marxists, and political and social radicals who have hi-jacked the Democratic Party and are attempting the overthrown of the United States government.]

CONCLUSION

Our nation is being attacked. It is in a revolution. We have not been serving our God. In fact, we don’t even know who our God is. We don’t even know who we are ... that is most of us.

Does the Bible teach us the interest on loans is wrong when it is made to brothers? Does the Bible teach us that eating pork is an abomination to Almighty God? Does the Bible teach us the sodomites, homosexuals, lesbians, gays, and transgenders are committing criminal offenses? Does the Bible teach us that killing the unborn baby is murder?

Then why would a Christian support Black Lives Matter? At least two of the three founders are queer. One of the three is married to a transgender male. Two of the three are trained Marxists. All three are in favor of abortions. All three are organizers and communists.

BLM is not about race. It is not about climate control. It is not about illegal immigration. It is not about taking down statues. It is mainly about having a Communist's revolution. It is having Trump resign his office right now.

How much money do you think the three co-founders have? They now have multi-millions of dollars. Follow the money.

To be continued.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel.