First off I want to say thank you to all who have voiced their opinion regarding a subject that is very dear to my heart. A subject that should need no definition at all but clearly needs to be appropriately articulated for some. A definition that at this point when clarified I am sure is very much appreciated by most Americans who firmly believe that marriage is defined as a relationship between one man and one woman! Every time I hear a comment on a cable news network by a well meaning politician, or a commentary by a talking head regarding the institution of Marriage my mind goes immediately to a phrase that I have rehearsed often in crowds both large and small as I begin a very sacred ceremony, “Dearly beloved we are gathered here together in the sight of God and the presence of these witnesses to join together this man and this woman in Holy matrimony. This is an honorable estate instituted by God in the time of man’s innocence signifying unto us the mystical union that exists between Christ and the church.”
Regardless of the host of opinions and in light of the personal like or dislike of others I am convinced that the sanctity of marriage far supersedes what some have attempted to define as marriage. With that being said and before I go any further allow me to say that the amazing God of the Bible that I love and serve has purposed in his heart to draw all men to himself, to Love them with and unconditional Love and that every living creature come into a right relationship with Him so that forever they may live in a place that He has prepared especially for them. Regardless of who they are, what they have done, His loving words reach out to compel, to correct and to save the world. As a Christ Follower I have that same love. So with the ever-increasing awareness that there are some in our country that desire to dictate what can and cannot be said from the pulpits of churches I am compelled to speak up. The stand that I take in regard to same sex marriage is really not based on my opinion for you see it is Jesus who said “Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” Notice it was Jesus who called our attention to the concept of a father and a mother as a family unit. You will not find any other variation to that plan in all of scripture regardless of what the talk shows and network news anchors tell you.
I am reminded of the sobering words of a German Pastor by the name of Martin Niemoller who in1945 wrote, “First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn’t speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me”. Niemoller was eventually jailed for preaching against Hitler and standing steadfast for the truth of Gods word. One of the first to visit him in jail was a chaplain who was at the time still compromising to get along with the Nazi regime. When he saw Niemoller in a jail cell he said in a surprising tone. “ Niemoller, why are you here?” to which Martin Niemoller quickly replied, “why aren’t you?” Paul’s closing words in the fifteenth chapter of first Corinthians says this to us today. “There fore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Please know that I am aware that many do not fall into the category of not taking a stand, and to you I say, DON’T QUIT! Christ Followers must Teach truth and communicate Hope while being committed to allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us so that people that Jesus died for can come into a personal relationship with Him. My good friend Congressman Bob McEwen reminded me this morning, “Anthropologists and historians remind us that the two cardinal flags of the demise of every civilization were when life and sex were no longer sacred. The taking of innocent life and unnatural sex have marched together to unravel cultures. Will we stand with America's founder's and their appeal to Nature's God that has been the foundation of this the world's greatest fountain of invention, art, peace and prosperity?” Years from today may it be said of you and I that we stood in support of this God ordained Holy estate!