The Gay Church
Dear Christian friends,
Our fifteenth annual Chinese New Year Parade outreach is scheduled for Saturday February 22. This is the largest annual event in San Francisco, drawing about 400,000 people. We plan to have a worship rally that afternoon and witness at the parade that night, rain or shine, permit or no permit. Call us after February 10 for our meeting time and place: (510) 531-5325.
SOS-San Francisco
July 4-12, 1997
We have set the dates for next summer’s SOS-San Francisco outreach. Please pray about taking the week off so you can attend next summer’s outreach. Also, please pray for us as we organize the outreach. This is an exciting opportunity to be used by God to bring the gospel to many people..
The “Gay” Church
Over the past 40 years we have seen a dramatic change in our society’s attitude towards homosexuality. In the 1950’s, homosexuality was rarely spoken of, but was viewed almost universally with disgust. Homosexuals tried to keep their behavior secret, fearing job loss, physical attacks, and prison. Homosexuals in the church made great efforts to keep their behavior secret, and the subject almost never was discussed in the church.
Today, homosexuality is very much in the open, both in our society and in the church. Many Americans today believe that homosexuality is simply a sexual preference and not immoral. Hawaii could soon be the first place in the world to recognize homosexual marriages. Many churches today believe that homosexual behavior is not sinful, including some “evangelical” churches.
“Gay theology” originated largely with a former Pentecostal named Troy Perry. He started the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), an international denomination of “churches” that believe that homosexuality is not sinful. He argued that the Bible passages that seem to speak against homosexual behavior have been misinterpreted. The real sin of Sodom was inhospitality and possibly rape. The passage in Romans 1 refers to heterosexuals unnaturally engaging in homosexuality. 1 Corin. 6 and 1 Tim. 1:10 refer only to homosexual prostitution. This is the false “gospel” of the “gay church.”
Perry’s arguments were incredibly weak, but they met a need in those who wanted to continue their homosexual behavior and still consider themselves Christian. Today, thousands of people attend MCC churches, and hundreds of other churches have adopted their theology.
The argument against homosexual behavior begins in Genesis 2. Here, God created Eve for Adam–“therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.” God created sex, and intended it for a lifelong relationship between a man and a woman. All other sexual behavior is consistently condemned throughout the Bible.
In Genesis 3, sin entered the world, taking a variety of forms. Homosexuality is mentioned several times in scripture, always in the most negative terms possible. There is not a single scripture that suggests that God approves of homo-sexuality. So any argument for it is an argument from silence.
For example, in Romans 1 where it says men left the natural use of the woman and burned in their lust one for another, the “gay church” argues that this is only talking about those who are “born hetero-sexual” engaging in homosexuality. According to them, there are two classes of people–those born heterosexual and those born homosexual. According to this argument, it is a sin for those born heterosexual to engage in homosexuality and for those born homosexual to engage in heterosexuality. If they really believed this, MCC pastors should be warning the heterosexuals in their congregation not to engage in homosexual behavior and warning the homosexuals not to engage in heterosexual behavior. Also, many people consider themselves bisexual. How do they fit into this scheme?
This kind of argument could be used to justify any sin. If one wanted to justify stealing, he could say there are two classes of people, kleptomaniacs and non-kleptomaniacs. When God said, “you shall not steal,” he was referring to the non-kleptomaniacs. But it would be a sin for kleptomaniacs to refrain from stealing, since they are acting contrary to their nature.
According to the Bible, we are all born with a sin nature. When we act according to this nature, we will sin. God calls His servants to resist temptations to sin, and He promises to give us the strength to resist. Most Christians are tempted to engage in heterosexual fornication or adultery. They believe that the Bible forbids such behavior and those who engage in these practices will not enter Heaven. Therefore they resist these temptations with God’s help. Most Christians struggle with sexual temptation much or all of their lives. Some fall into sin and continue in it. Others fall into sin and repent. Many never engage in fornication.
Resisting temptation is an essential element of the Christian life. Christians tempted to engage in homosexual activity are called to resist it, and God will give them grace. Our biggest problem is listening to Satan’s lies. In the garden, the serpent said “hath God said?” Eve believed that God did not mean what He said and she sinned. Today, the “gay church” and the secular media are saying that homo-sexual behavior is not a sin. I am no Greek scholar, but the meaning of “arsenokoites” in 1 Corin. 6 and 1 Tim. 1:10 is clear. “Arsen” is the Greek word for male, used this way 4 times in the New Testament. “Koite” is the word for bed, “a place for lying down….in Rom. 13:13, it is used of sexual intercourse” and in Romans 9:10 of conception. (Vine’s)
The New Testament teaching is clear, that those who continue to practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. “There are certain men crept in unawares, who were before ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God” Jude 4. The “gay theology” is a false teaching which has taken hold in many churches today, deceiving many people into thinking they are saved when in fact they are headed for Hell.
When a homosexual is considering becoming a Christian, he or she will often try to find a loophole in the Bible, a way to continue their homosexual behavior and still be a Christian. We should help them to see the two are mutually exclusive. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness” (Gal. 6:1). We need to offer help and encouragement to those who desire to be free from homo- sexuality. There are ministries around the country which provide counseling and literature for those desiring change. For information about a ministry in your area, contact Exodus International, Box 77652, Seattle, WA 98177, (206) 784-7799.
Coming Events
EVERY FRIDAY 7 PM. Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. Meet at Vineyard, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Call (510) 531- 5325 for more information.
EVERY SATURDAY Noon. San Francisco or Berkeley witnessing. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
February 6-12 Mardi Gras Outreach, New Orleans, LA. Contact Rescue Atlanta (770) 924-0201 or Christ in Action (703) 368-6286.
Sat. February 22, Chinese New Year Parade Outreach, SF. Call (510) 531-5325 for time and meeting place.
Ministry News and Needs
Despite our problems with the police permit department, we were able to obtain permits for outdoor rallies from 12 – 6 PM on Saturday December 7 and December 21 at Market and Grant Streets. On December 7, about 30 youth from Calvary Christian Center in Alameda joined us for the outreach. They did drama and witnessed in the area. Tom Burnowski and New Springs Christian Fellowship ministered with music and several people preached that afternoon. The police didn’t bother us, probably because a much louder group was playing rock music half a block away.
Another youth group, from Harvest House in Fremont, joined us on Friday night December 13. We witnessed at Union Square, where an ice skating rink and giant Christmas tree drew hundreds of peo ple. Several people joined us as we sang Christmas carols. We had many good conversations with teenagers in the park. One young man witnessed to a friend from his high school.
The next day we witnessed in Berkeley, where Telegraph Avenue was closed for a Christmas fair. This fair had no Christmas music, no mention of Jesus, but a lot of vendors trying to make money. When we first arrived, I was playing a tape of “Silent Night” over our amplifier. A man walked by and commented, “This is really obnoxious.” Paul and Noreen Coca sang and we gave out hundreds of special Christmas tracts. We also gave out food, clothes and toys. People often complain about Christians being greedy for money, but we were the only ones giving anything away on the street.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. This is a very stressful time for us, and we really need your prayers. We give out thousands of tracts each week. Currently we are printing another 160,000 tracts. We still have several openings for Christians to live in our ministry house. We are looking for radical Christians with a desire to reach the lost. Also, we still need more workers to help us on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.
This month we are again offering a special book: Going Fishing: Journeys to the Inner Cities by Ira Nissen. Ira is a retired professor from the University of Las Vegas. In this book, Ira shares many of his experiences at SOS-San Francisco outreaches from 1983-1990 as well as at SOS-Hollywood. It is filled with interesting stories of how God led Ira and others in divine encounters, ministering to lost people at these outreaches.
Please pray for those who have written us in response to tracts or responded to the gospel on the streets, including Lonnie, Thomas, Guillermo, Jose, and Doris (SF), Gilda (Daly City), Angie (Fresno), and James (Lompoc prison).
Gayle Harris wrote concerning Dravion, whom she prayed with at last summer’s SOS outreach: “Dravion said he attended the Open Bible Church and has met and prayed with the pastor. He’s praying and reading the Bible and God is touching his life in areas where he needed God’s help. Good fruit from 1996 SOS. Hold Dravion up in prayer.”
Our Tape of the Month is Witnessing to Homosexuals. This is a teaching I gave several years ago at an evangelism conference in Florida.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
