Did God make mistakes when he made homosexuals?  Why did Jesus not rebuke homosexuals?

Sincerely,
Looking For Answers

Dear Looking For Answers,

We’ll answer your second question first.  Jesus did rebuke homosexuality, but He didn’t do it specifically.  Jesus answered the question of homosexuality when He taught on marriage.  Jesus said that marriage was intended between a man and a woman (Matt 19:4-5).  Any sexual activity outside of God’s plan for marriage is fornication.  Homosexual behavior, pre-marital sex, adultery, etc. are all sinful and Jesus condemned them all when He taught the right way for men and women to behave.

Now let’s address the issue of people being made homosexual.  God doesn’t force anyone to act upon same-sex attractions, just like God doesn’t force an alcoholic to the bottle or a wrathful husband to strike his wife.  How we act is a choice, not a genetic equation.  There is a lot of debate over why some people have same-sex attractions, but at the end of the day, those temptations need to be mastered.  When Cain was angry, God told Cain to rule over sin or it would devour him (Gen 4:7).  Same-sex attractions are a temptation that stems from within a person, just like anger, unhealthy opposite-sex attractions, and a thousand other temptations (Jas 1:13-14).  The key is that there is always a way of escape from those unhealthy desires (1 Cor 10:13).  God didn’t make a mistake when creating us; it is when we turn from the path He has designed for us and follow our own desires (which are often unhealthy) that we sin (Jer 10:23).

     Why does Joseph run out without his coat when his master’s wife seduced him?

Sincerely,
Feeling Chilly

Dear Feeling Chilly,

He left his coat because it was more important to avoid sin than to keep his jacket.  When Potiphar’s wife tried to force Joseph to commit adultery with her, he fled as fast as he could from her… even though that meant leaving his coat behind because she was holding on so tightly (Gen 39:10-12).  God tells us to flee fornication (1 Cor 6:18), and it is better to lose things and have clean hands than to let sin drag us down to hell (Matt 16:26).  Joseph did the right thing.

    In the news, a boy brought a gun to school and shot his classmate.  The teacher asked him why he did it, and he said his classmate acted “too girly”.  Do you think that the christian church is perplexing young minds and making them do silly things like this?  Also, how should we teach a child about diversity and homosexuals?

Sincerely,
Coexist

Dear Coexist,

The church needs to teach what the Bible says, and the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong (Rom 1:26-27).  Is it right to shoot people because you disagree with them? Absolutely not.  Vengeance, judgment, life, and death belong to God – not us (Rom 12:19, 1 Pet 4:4-5).  The Bible doesn't teach people to hate.  There are people who try and wield the Bible as a book of hatred, but when you read the Book yourself, it teaches forgiveness for sins, the love of God, and hope for the repentant sinner – this includes repentant homosexuals.

We should teach our children what the Bible says about men and women.  God designed marriage and sexual relations to be between one man and one woman (Gen 2:24, 1 Cor 7:1-2).  Homosexuality is a sin, but it is a sin that can be forgiven like any other.

     What scriptures can we look at to show us that pastors, elders, and bishops have all the same meanings and duties?

Sincerely,
Name Nomenclature

Dear Name Nomenclature,

Pastors, elders, and bishops are all referring to the same job in the church.  We see this by looking at multiple passages that show that these titles are used interchangeably.  Tit 1:5-7 uses the terms ‘elder’ and ‘bishop’ as synonyms.  Acts 20:28 refers to bishops shepherding the local church (the word ‘pastor’ means ‘shepherd’).  1 Pet 5:1-3 also refers to elders as those who pastor/shepherd the church.  When you see that these three terms (pastor, elder, and bishop) are all used interchangeably, it means they are synonyms.

(This post is in response to “Only The Best”.)

     Does your local congregation use incense in your worship service?  If the "pure offering" referred to in Mal 1:11 is the lives of the people of the New Testament Church (as you say), then when does your congregation "offer incense" in God's name?  Remember, you have previously stated, "If you avoid or ignore verses, that is just as bad as adding to the Bible (Rev 22:18-19).  We have to take every Bible teaching, no matter how unpopular, and accept it in order to truly call ourselves a ‘Bible-only’ congregation."

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Burning To Know

Dear Burning To Know,

Just like the offerings mentioned in the previous post aren’t literal animal sacrifices, the “incense” that the church sends up to God isn’t literally on fire.  Mal 1:11 is a verse dealing with general principles of the church’s behavior in the way that an Old Testament Jew acquainted with Old Testament worship could understand.  The Bible says that the lives of the righteous are like the sweet smell of incense before those that are perishing (2 Cor 2:14-16).  Rev 8:3-4 also compares our prayers to burning incense.  In either case, nowhere is the church asked to burn incense as a part of worship.  Mal 1:11 would have to be taken out of context to use it as a proof text for incense as an act of New Testament worship.