A Christian Message to LGBT Americans - Michael Brown

I know that many of you not only are hurting today, but you are also angry. And your anger is not just directed at the Muslim terrorist who slaughtered so many of your people. You are also angry with Christians like me, believing that we have helped to create the toxic, hateful atmosphere that led to the horrific massacre.

A gay activist in Charlotte, North Carolina, with whom I've shared meals and interacted many times, expressed his anger toward what he called the "sanctimonious (expletive)" of conservative Christian leaders, saying, "You helped cause this massacre. Your anti-LGBTQ theology assisted in helping others, including the Orlando shooter, in seeing each of our precious LGBTQ lives as dispensable and worthy of death. ... (Expletive) your prayers and your chaplains. How 'bout you stop your anti-queer theology that supports our death and despair, huh?"

In your eyes, people like me are hateful bigots, not recognizing the validity of your marriages, not recognizing the depth of your relationships, not recognizing the beauty of your families.

And when we say that homosexual practice is sinful in God's sight, you feel that we are branding you as inferior human beings, virtually damning you to hell for who you are and for who you perceive yourselves to be from the womb.

Some of you have called us CINOs (Christians In Name Only), reminding us that Paul taught that love does no harm to its neighbor (Rom. 13:10) and claiming that we are doing you irreparable harm and damage when we tell you that God has a better way, that it's wrong for you to engage in same-sex relationships, and that with God's help it can be possible to change from gay to straight.

Many of you hear those words as anything but loving, to put it mildly.

As one woman posted on my Facebook page yesterday, "I blame YOU and people like you for the tragedy in Orlando. As of now, 50 people are dead, 53 injured, including at least one police officer, due to homophobia. And you, and your ilk spreading your messages of hate daily directly contribute to senseless tragedies like this. ... SHAME ON YOU!"

In reality, if people truly listened to my message (or that of my colleagues), it would never dawn on them for a split second to attack you or try to harm you, and as I've said many times publicly, if someone tried to do you harm and I was present, they would have to get by me.

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I love Michael Brown. What is the point in trying to convince men of our sincerity, though? If they reject Jesus but give us a polite, "no, thanks," because they believe us to be nice people, will the judgment of God be less severe on them? No. Moreover, will the honor of God Almighty be vindicated by our sincere concern for the eternal destination of lost men and women? Not in the slightest. The time has arrived when God vindicates Himself. The time has arrived when the people of God will stop tender-footing over the hard truths of the gospel and endure the rejection of the world because we simply refuse to reject the Lord Jesus as He is. We owe no explanations, no apologies and not even any condolences to the victims of murder of the likes of this Islamic sadist in Orlando. That seems harsh, and perhaps it is harsh, but so is the time we are in. This is not Acts. The Holy Spirit has written the chapters of this time, but we have not been awakened to read it, enlightened to see it, until now.

The Word of God makes it perfectly clear
that we are to love and pray for our
enemies. We do not compromise the
truth just to get along with people, but
if we are going to be followers of Jesus,
we should see the LGBT people as those
that Jesus died for, and that it is the will
of God for all men to be saved.

We must always remember that our
warfare is not against flesh and blood.

There is a right way and a wrong way
to witness to gays, and having hatred
in your heart for them while telling them
they are going to hell will not win a
single one to Christ. May we be a
sweet savor of Christ in our dealings
with all men.

How could a Christian in Nazi Germany effectively witness to a Jewish person?

The problem may be analogous to the LGBT issue.

I agree that we do not have to apologize for the truths found in scripture.

Whether we should apologize for other Christians or so-called Christians is a whole different issue.

California Pastor Applauds Orlando Shootings

SACRAMENTO -- Sunday, a few short hours after dozens were gunned down at a gay club in Orlando, Florida, Pastor Roger Jimenez delivered his sermon from his Sacramento pulpit.

"Hey, are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today? No ... I think that's great. I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida's a little safer tonight," he said to the crowd of believers in front of him.

A link on his church's Facebook page, Verity Baptist Church, directed viewers to the sermon on YouTube.

"It is unnatural for a man to be attracted to another man," he said as he preached for more than an hour.

"The tragedy is that more of them didn't die," he said.

For members of Sacramento's LGBTQ community, religious freedom is sacred, but leaders feel a vile line has been crossed.

"We as the gay community support you should be able to worship as you see fit, but it's when you use the pulpit to incite violence or demean or discredit another class of people, just utter disgust," said Donald Bentz, executive director of Sacramento's LGBTQ Community Center.

FOX40 reached out to Jimenez at his church, by phone and at his home Monday to no avail.

A congregant who lives just a few doors down from him said she fully supported her pastor, but wouldn't comment on camera about his message.

Throughout the sermon, Pastor Jimenez cited passages in the Bible from Judges 19:22, Genesis 4:1 and Romans 1:27 to back up his points.

Bentz countered that with a critique of the translation process.

"Most of those texts were originally written into Hebrew, translated into Greek, translated into Latin, translated into old English, new English and then back to English and every author that did the translations subjected them to the social mores of their time," he said.

And while Pastor Jimenez has told the faithful of his flock that Orlando is now safer without what he calls the 50 predators eliminated by a terrorist's gun, others believe the danger level in Sacramento has now increased.

"To know that this man's church is within driving distance of my home and where I work and where I'm walking at night, and his congregation members are out on the street, it's very scary," said Bentz.

He is no pastor. You tend sheep but you don't slaughter the goats. Nobody can be glad about a massacre. It is perversion.