Next I will openly state that I completely agree with Joseph Prince — that the more attracted we are to the Divine the less attracted we are to sin … Of course, for me this Truth includes lust (gay lust & straight lust & every lust in between) and it includes arrogance – and it includes hypocrisy – and it inludes bigotry – and it includes any other form of callousness &/or intolerance … So it is clear that this is a Truth that you & yours would do well to reconsider – mostly while looking in a mirror!

 

Daniel:   I was wondering whether you were going to contaminate my words – and you did so.  At least you are consistent … Either you don’t understand what I am saying or you are taking it the wrong way — perhaps it is both.  You definitely have your own agenda, either way … I think that people can be Christ-like; it is a lie straight from Hell to think that we can’t be.  Jesus can live through us and in us … Your notions are based on your own agenda.  Indeed the Bible says that our hearts can be deceitful, though it does not say that Jesus’ heart was deceitful.  The Bible says that Jesus is the truth, the life, and the way.  You apparently have some ugliness inside you because I won’t attach a lie to his beautiful teachings.  You had two choices in my last comment and you stuck with your agenda.  So be stuck, Scaughdt.  I do not wish to go back and forth with you.  I think that the only way anyone can reach you is if they support your agenda … You are very comfortable with putting words in people’s mouths.  If you want people to be ugly, you paint them that way and then claim the love of Jesus Christ.  I at least am willing to admit that I am nothing without Jesus … It was my intent to heal any wounds that were created.  Jesus will have to close those wounds now.  Good luck to you … All is well because Jesus has made me well.  I am another man who needs God’s Grace, but I don’t need to stray from the order that He has put into place … I will stick with believing the whole Bible as truth … Be well, Scaughdt.

 

Scaughdt:    Hmmmm … Well my Friend, I went back and re-read my comments to you and couldn’t find anywhere where I “contaminated” your words at all … I think maybe you feel otherwise because you are having trouble with my use of the words “hypocrital” & “bigoted”.  I readily admit that they both have strong negative connotations, and I just as readily admit that both of them are often (and often understandably) used as insults or criticisms in our society.  Rest assured, my Friend – as I have tried to explain to you & Bart & Lucy on more than a few occasions previously – I am not using these terms in such traditional, negative contexts – at least not in relation to you all as individuals.  I am merely using them as statements of fact …

Please consider:
As far as bigotry goes, you are indeed singling out homosexuals & their lust for damnation, while not mentioning anything about the many other far more prevalent lust-based mortal sins (“mental adultery” being at the top of the list – see Deuteronomy 22:22 + Matthew 5:27-28) … Also, you have frequently criticized homosexuality itself in this thread – who homosexuals are &/or the natural desires they have, as opposed to the things they might be doing.  You & yours have regularly compared the “sin” of homosexuality (which has no innate victims, and is often an expression of Love) to pedophilia, domestic abuse & rape (all acts of violence perpetrated upon unwilling victims).  All of these expressions are bigoted & all of them factually evidence your bigoted prejudice against homosexuals.  In my world, this doesn’t make you “bigots” (which would be a Matthew 7:1-2 violation on my part), and yet it does mean you hold bigoted beliefs about homosexuals – beliefs that foster intolerance of (and often violence against) gays, and beliefs that immorally condemn them as people for merely being who they innately are.
 

As far as your hypocrisy is concerned, I have also merely stated the following facts – A) that you are all just as sinful as the average homosexual, … B) that the gay Christian (e.g. Oliver Clyde Allen) is just as “saved” from his sins as you are from yours, … C) that Jesus himself repeatedly begged us all to stop criticizing or calling out others’ sins until we ourselves have cleansed our own, … and D) that this makes any moral condemnation of homosexuals on your part a clear expression of hypocrisy.

 

Again, I am not calling any of you “hypocrites” per se (that would be another Matthew 7:1-2 violation on my part), and yet I am “discerning with impartial judgment” (John 7:24) that your condemnation of homosexuals is hypocritical – as well as unjust, unloving and harmful to innocent people who are doing no harm to others … This isn’t a form of “contamination”, Dan – and it certainly isn’t any personal agenda on my part (other than to openly defend the persecuted innocent – an agenda I most certainly champion every day of my life) … I admit that I do see how you might think it is “false” on my part to do so, and yet I have faith that I have explained myself better now in this regard, and that you now better understand the very important distinctions embedded in this discussion (e.g. the difference between judgment & discernment, the difference between being a bigot & being bigoted, and the difference between being a hypocrite & being hypocritical).

(It’s called ethics … & it’s also called decency.
It’s called integrity … & it’s also called justice.
It’s called Love … & it’s also called
walking The Way of Christ!)

 

A bit later in this latest comment you state that, “You have some ugliness inside you because I won’t attach a lie to [Jesus’] beautiful teachings”, and to this I would just like to state openly – this is 100% NOT THE CASE! … I have chosen to not only radically live The Way of Jesus Christ for the last eleven+ years of my life, I have also chosen – as in the case at hand – to champion that Way wherever it is being misrepresented, misanalyzed or outright violated.   I have shown this to be so quite clearly in this thread, and I have quoted thousands of verses of Scripture that affirm this interpretation to be an acceptable Biblical Truth … It might not be the Truth that you & yours choose to follow or the Truth in which you & yours choose to believe (both are none of my business), and yet a viable biblicalTruth it most certainly remains, and so it remains whether you choose to believe it or follow it (i.e. emulate Jesus’ teachings) or not …

In closing, I do not wish to go back & forth anymore with you either, my Friend, especially because it might be causing you some stress – which is not now, nor ever was, my intention.   I have re-read this entire thread on more than one occasion, and feel quite confident that I have not once “put words in your mouth” or “twisted” anything you had to say.  If you feel otherwise, I invite you to specifically point out where I did so, and I will either clarify or apologize … I have nothing but respect & gratitude for you (& for Bart, & for Lucy , & for Diana, & for Cyrus as well), and do not at all wish to portray you as anything other than what I believe you to be – namely, a Good Person who simply maintains some outdated views on homosexuality & homosexuals; views that do not reflect well on your God, and views that do not at all reflect The Way of Jesus Christ … That is all.
Finally, my Friend, I remind you that it is simply not possible for you to believe “the whole Bible” when it comes to both the damnation of Hell and the perfect Love of Jesus’ heavenly Father … Simply stated, you will ultimately be forced to choose either the condemnatory teachings of the Old Testament (which Jesus came to amend & often replace – see pages 26-31 &/or 176-181 herein) & the dysfunctional teachings of Paul (whose teachings often usurped those of Jesus – see pages 202-204 previously) – or the teachings of Jesus himself.  I simply & humbly recommend that you one day choose the latter.

 

Sincerely wishing you the Peace of Christ & the LOVE of Jesus’ Way … S

Filed under: Burnishing Bigotry by Scaughdt