Culture,  End Times,  Evil,  Last Days,  Marriage,  Persecution,  Sex,  Spiritual Warfare,  United States

Celebrating Independence … from God

celebration_same_sexThere’s dancing in the street and gladness in the air, at least in some places. It is sort of reminiscent of how Sodom must have been the night before God rained down a judgment of fire upon them. Yesterday marked one of the saddest days in the history of our nation. The United States of America established the Constitution as the means of governing our Republic, and yesterday five Supreme Court justices snubbed their noses at God and made adherence to the Word of God illegal. It was a dark day because this was the first time we passed a law that blatantly contradicted the Bible. It is the first time that Christians will be forced to decide to either obey God or obey our government. While it should be one in the same, it is not. With the stroke of a pen, five justices declared our independence from God.

I obviously have a problem with this ruling because it stands in contrast to the clear teaching of the Word of God. Marriage is to be between a man and a woman (Matthew 19:4–6; Mark 10:5–9; cf. Genesis 1:27–28, 2:20–24; Ephesians 5:21–32). Same-sex relations are a sin against God (Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10; cf. Leviticus 18:22, 20:13). Please understand. Homosexuality is not a bigger sin than lust, dishonesty, stealing, or adultery. In God’s eyes, sin is sin. Jesus had to die for the thief just as much as He died for the homosexual. I want our nation to be blessed of God, but when we pass laws supporting sin and ignore the Bible, God cannot bless us. God is just, and He will punish sin. I believe that this ruling will open the door to all manner of Christian persecution. It is the beginning of the fall of our nation. Whenever we celebrate a blatant move away from God, we are on a slippery slope that leads to Hell.

My problem is that now I am a citizen of a country who legally condones sin and restricts people from following God’s clear teaching. When I say restricts, you may be thinking that this law won’t affect you. Can’t we all continue practicing religion as we see fit – just like the Constitution guarantees? The answer is “no.”

I have someone close to me who is a professional photographer. He makes a living mainly through taking pictures at weddings. He strongly opposes same-sex marriage, but now when he is asked to take pictures at a gay marriage, he will either have to say yes or potentially be sued. I am a pastor. When I teach from Romans chapter one and call homosexuality sin, I am now guilty of a hate crime. Here’s the thing we must understand. When we ignore one part of the Constitution, we are potentially ignoring the whole thing. When I am guaranteed the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion and this freedom is taken from me, we must be prepared for every other freedom to be taken from us in the future.

This is a sad day. I suggest we fly our flags at half-mast. We are not remembering the death of a famous leader. We are acknowledging the death of a nation.

At the same time, Jesus warned us of this. The Bible is clear that challenging days are ahead before the return of Christ. It is critical that Christians prepare for the storm that will only get worse. It is because events like what happened Friday that I wrote the book Immovable: Standing Firm in the Last Days. Because the message of my book is so critical, I have asked Amazon to drop the price of my book to 99 cents. Unfortunately, I can’t get them to lower the price of the paperback to that amount, but I can control the price on the digital book somewhat. This discount should go into effect by tomorrow. I encourage you to prayerfully read my book and prepare for the days to come.

Remember what Jesus said in John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

9 Comments

  • Blake

    Very good article pastor Tim. Everyday John 16:33 becomes more real and essential to maintaining hope. Thank you for taking the time to write this.

    • timriordan

      Thanks Blake. It is so easy to feel overwhelmed by our circumstances and we all need a reminder that we are living from victory not for victory. God is on His throne and He is working His plan. Thanks for your comment.

  • Tommy

    “It was a dark day because this was the first time we passed a law that blatantly contradicted the Bible.” Really? I think we have passed other laws that contradicted scripture. Also, I’m sure if God spared this nation after the trail of tears, then God will certainly spare the nation for this.

    • timriordan

      Thanks Tommy for your comment. I agree that a lot of things have been done in the past that strongly contradicted the Word of God – including the Trail of Tears. I intended one key word in my comment to be the word “blatantly.” While the Trail of Tears came as a result of greed, etc., God did not specifically tell people not to mistreat native Americans. There are general comments about how we should treat other people that were ignored by national leaders during that time making the wrong treatment of Native American despicable and sinful. God did, however, speak plainly about homosexuality. That’s why I used the word “blatantly.” Abortion comes close, but there is nowhere in the Bible where God tells us specifically not to kill the unborn. Certainly the command not to murder applies, but a law condoning homosexuality and same-sex unions is a “blatant” contradiction to the Bible. That was my point. I hope my comment did not keep you from getting to the heart of my blog.

  • Kelli

    I love what you said this past Sunday… “The supreme court doesn’t determine what is right or wrong, God does!” Sorry if I misquoted that, but it was something along those lines. Great article!

    • timriordan

      I appreciate your comments, Kelli. It is so easy for Americans to view the Supreme Court almost like God. We have been led to believe that they have the final word. We know, however, that they do not. God does.

  • Robert McGhee

    Pastor Tim, would it be possible for the church to have in the bi-laws that you could only perform weddings to church members only, and then they (the couple) would have to go through a (four-five-six week course) on biblical marriage. This may help in protecting you and the church in discrimination.

    • timriordan

      I do think that is a great idea, Robert. Thanks for sharing it. We could at least add to our wedding policy that only members can get married at our church. The great challenge any Christian has while dealing with this issue is to be true to Scripture regarding this topic and love everyone in the process. Sometimes Christians are presented has angry, hateful people when we should be the most loving people on the planet. Love does not mean that we condone immorality, but our actions need to communicate love. It’s sad that we have to limit our building use to church members, but we may indeed have to resort to that position in the future.

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