Love Truth Blog

On Friday, June 26, 2015, a 5-4 SCOTUS struck down state bans on same-sex marriage nationwide. Millions voiced their approval of the verdict on social media using the hastag #lovewins. So, I ask myself, “What’s love got to do with it?” Love is a powerful word, but hardly something that is omnipotent, good, and pure. Simply because we love a person, place, or thing does not mean our affections are leading us in the right direction. Many Christians have been instructed: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15, ESV). Solomon, the wisest Old Testament saint, loved many women, but they led him astray, leading him into detestable pagan practices, and leaving him with only a half-hearted devotion to the Lord (1 Kings 11:1-8). If #lovewins it is because God is love and God demonstrates to us the way to love. Something Christians can own up to is that on account of the fall, we are all sexually brok...

I just scanned through the book Same-Sex Marriage: A Thoughtful Approach to God’s Design for Marriage (Baker) by Sean McDowell and John Stonestreet, which seeks to answer the question: “ ‘What now?’ How can the church best respond in the midst of this changing environment? What will Christian faithfulness look like once new definitions of marriage and sexuality replace those that have undergirded society for so long?”  The urgency for an answer to the question asked is understandable, for within a span of a little over two decades same-sex unions have gone from unthinkable to commonplace.Scriptures teach that God from the beginning instituted marriage to be a publicly recognized union between one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation (Gen. 1-2). The Word of God can never be broken, but the salt appears to have lost its savor. One point that McDowell and Stonestreet made that really stuck out is this: As Christians, we believe that there is something more profo...

I flipped on the television last Wednesday, June 26, 2013, and watched the news on the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which essentially kept same-sex couples from receiving tax, health and retirement benefits from the government. At that moment I thought, “Wow, whatever might come out of this, however this decision might shape each person in America, the world I lived in would never be the same.” Yet, inasmuch as the decision was monumental, as a Christ follower in covenant relationship to the God of the Universe, there is a bit of personal uneasiness over the whole situation. It would be naive to think the Supreme Court decision about DOMA is simply about the money $$$. (Who would object to a gay couple formulating contractual agreements for inheritance, hospital visitations, or property?) Rather, the decision set a legal precedence about marriage, particularly who can be married, and who can reap the benefits of being in a marit...

So last Wednesday (8/1/2012) I picked up some lunch for Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, which was an event called for by Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas. The event was in response to criticisms launched at Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy, for statements recently made on the subject of family values and marriage. In a Baptist Press interview, Cathy made the remark, “We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that. We operate as a family business…our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that.” Then on the Ken Coleman Show , Cathy said, “I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say 'we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage' and I p...

Today I came across a newsflash about DC’s decision to recognize gay marriages. The issue of gay marriage as recognizing the rights of homosexuals is the popular vote. In fact, anyone challenging the idea is shunned in the most militant fashion. Gay marriage is an issue of morals, for all legislation reflects someone’s morality. The issue is whose morality is being legislated, and on what basis do we know what is “right” and “wrong?” I can respect the idea that the basic human rights of homosexuals must be preserved (they cannot be denied food, clothing, shelter, and jobs.) Moreover, there is not justification for gay bashing. Still, there is something sacred about marriage, that God established it as a covenant between a man and a woman. The idea that “a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24) certainly signifies a heterosexual union, which by logical extension includes the commission to “be fruitful and mul...