The Depressing State of Christian Faith As I write this piece I confess to being somewhat discouraged and depressed myself

about the declining state of Christian faith in America today. Evidently, I am not the only one who sees faith in decline for Gallup did a poll in May of 2 !" in which ##$ of those surveyed said they felt religion was losing its influence on American life. In a poll ta%en by &arris in 'ovember of 2 !", 2"$ of Americans say they are not at all religious. (hile that number may not seem that great the most troubling aspect of it is that )ust # years ago that number was !2$ so it has nearly doubled in )ust the past # years. If things continue on as they are today what will that number be in another # years* +nly !,$ of Americans in the &arris poll were willing to describe themselves as very religious. America is rapidly becoming a secular nation with no moral compass. -ewer and fewer people believe in absolute truth today .a postmodernism effect/, believe the 0ible is verbally inspired and without error, or that man must submit to its dictates or suffer the conse1uences if he does not. 2in is now generally accepted and no attempt is made any longer to hide it as long as the law of the land will allow it. (e abort babies .a holocaust/, commit fornication .ta%en for granted these days/, and become adulterers thin%ing God wants me to be happy or else not caring at all what he thin%s. +ne of the things that has ama3ed me recently in my own nec% of the woods is the push for gay marriage among groups of people whom you would have thought never would do such a thing which illustrates the state of mind of many who confess to be believers today. +ne man was 1uoted in a local paper as saying that there was no scriptural )ustification for denying gays the right to marry* I )ust could not believe that a person who %new peanuts about the 0ible could say such a thing as that. Another wrote that he was a born again Christian and he was a supporter of gay marriage. 4lease tell me how a person can read ! Cor. 56,7! and get that we ought to support gay marriage. 8 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.8 .! Cor. 56,7!! E29/ :here is a footnote in the E29 for the phrase 8men who practice homosexuality8 as follows6 8:he two Gree% terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homose;ual acts.8 'ow I as% should we Christians be in the business of helping people sin by giving our consent to it and striving to pass laws to promote it. If the passage above is not enough for you on the sub)ect of God<s will in this matter try =ude 57#, >om. !62?72#, and ! :im. !6,7! . (hen I wrote on the sub)ect, which I did, one lady wrote in telling me =esus never said a word about homose;uality. Is that right* @id =esus ever mention 2odom* Chec% out Matt. ! 6!A, Matt. !!62", Matt. !!62?, Mar% 56!!, Bu%e ! 6!2, and Bu%e !#62,. In most of these passages =esus is saying with regards to a specific city that it will be more tolerable for 2odom in the @ay of =udgment than it will be that particular city. 0ut I as% the 1uestion why does he use 2odom as a standard for comparison* (as it not

because it was infamous* &ad not all the =ewish people heard of what was done to 2odom and Gomorrah and why* 'o doubt he used 2odom as a basis for comparison because all were aware of how evil it was and the conse1uences it reaped as a result. =ude says 2odom and Gomorrah were to serve as an e;ample 8suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.8 .=ude 5 'C=9/ &e gives the reason as well saying they had 8given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh.8 .=ude 5 'C=9/ 2o don<t tell me =esus never tal%ed about homose;uality. (hen you tal% about 2odom you are tal%ing about homose;uality. And then there were some spo%esman who wrote in on behalf of their denominational bodies supporting the move toward the acceptance of gay marriage. Des, I oppose the whole manmade concept of gay marriage and I do so on scriptural grounds but the thing that is even more troubling is the loss of faith in the word of God by those who call themselves Christian and yet opinionate that God approves what he has clearly condemned. In the +ld :estament he even calls the homose;ual act an abomination .Bev. !E622, 2 6!"/. :he words of the 0ible seem to no longer have meaning among a certain class of people that would li%e for others to thin% they are God fearing. :hey spea% of love and grace as though the commandments of the 0ible can be tossed aside as of no conse1uence and God be moc%ed in doing so. If they decide among men that an act is holy and righteous that overrides everything the 0ible has to say about the matter. =esus spo%e of )ust such a group when he said, 8 or laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men.8 .Mar% #6E 'C=9/ I don<t thin% any gay marriage advocate will ever have the gall to say that gay marriage is a commandment of God for those so inclined but if it is not a tradition from God then whose tradition will it be* :o as% is to answer. -or those advocating gay marriage on the basis of love the 0ible says, 8 or this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.8 .! =ohn A6" 'C=9/ Dou and I as mere men do not have a right to define love when God has already done so. (hat are you going to do, override God* -or those who thin% the homose;ual act is sinful outside marriage, )ust as fornication is, but would be acceptable to God in a marriage relationship they need to give that a second thought. :here is a difference. God has never condemned the se;ual act between a man and woman as sinful in its own right. In fact God said to Adam and Eve 8be fruitful and multiply.8 .Gen. !62E 'C=9/ 8!arriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled" but fornicators and adulterers God will #udge .8 .&eb. !"6? 'C=9/ 0ut note, the se;ual act outside of marriage, fornication, is condemned so it depends on the relationship between a man and a woman, are they married or not* :hat cannot be said of the homose;ual act between man and man. :hat act God has declared to be sinful in itself and that is the big, big difference. As for marriage the 0ible refers to Eve as Adam<s wife and thus a marriage designed by God. 'owhere in scripture will you find God ma%ing a marriage between man and man. :hus such a thing is an invention of men, and of men, not of God.

4ostmodernism would say 8that is your opinion8 because with postmodernism truth really does not e;ist. :hat my friends is the day and age we live in and mindset that seems to have captured so many of our people. Bet the 0ible as the inspired word of God ta%e a hi%e. :hat is depressing to me to %now we have come to that state of affairs. -aith is now the invention of man, each ma%ing hisFher own faith, ma%ing their own truth, thin%ing all the while that all is A7o%ay. (e will see. (e will see.