February 29, 2004 Gay Marriage

There has been a tremendous amount of news within the past several weeks concerning gay marriages.

San Francisco, California, New York City. New Paltz, New York. Even Portland, Oregon. Many homosexuals want to legally marry.

And it is no surprise to me, therefore, that with all the media cverage about this issue, the question of whether or not it is morally right has come up here in the prison.

Well the Bible says it is wrong for two people of the same sex to lie together. Much of mankind, however, says it's okay.

So each person, I feel, has to decide for himself whether he (or she) will believe and honor God's word, or whether they will align themselves with the principles of this world, which are almost always opposed to God's.

I know that God forgives gay people the same way He forgives everyone who comes to Him for salvation.

I don't believe for a minute, though, the Jesus Christ hates homesexuals. He loves them and He longs to see each of them turn from their sins and place their faith in Him. The Lord doesn't want anyone to perish.

In the congregation I belong to, for example, we have gay men who occasionally walk through our chapel's door. We greet them just as we do the other prisoners.

And some of them will eventually become Christians, and some won't. But our door is always open, and they know it.

We've had in the past, and we have at present, men in our fellowship who have left the gay lifestyle. Many of them have become strong Christians with great faith and awesome testimonies of God's forgiveness.

And I believe that each of them can honestly confess that the homsexual lifestyle isn't what the media portrays it to be.

Instead they would say that their homosexuality was a lonely and empty experience. It was also a scary existence. for AIDS stalked their ranks and killed many of their friends.

In addition, the Bible makes it clear that, during the times of the early church, many congregations had members who were formerly homosexuals.

Others in those ancient congregations were once idolaters, adulterers, thieves and drunkards. Some had been members of what we would today call "Organized Crime". They had been extortioners!

Yet all of these people from varying walks of life found themselves to be sinners in need of a Savior. And, one by one, they came to Jesus, and He changed them.

God washed away their sins. He then called each of them to be His children. And He justified every last one of them, just as if they'd never sinned. (1 Corintehians 6:9-11).

God is doing the exact same things today.

David Berkowitz

February 29, 2004