"Collateral Damage"

(Heed, lest we forget)
~BY Amber Rogers

The Church, in its quest to be "all things to all men," has also, inadvertently been complicit in the infiltration and degradation of holiness. She has donned her rose-colored glasses of broad-mindedness and tolerance and as a result, the rivers of outrageous sexual immorality and pride have broken its levies. We (the church) now condone and accept everything from adultery, and promiscuity to homosexuality and pornography- always with her eyes fixed on the monetary! Heed, lest we should forget the wealth, pride and sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their abundance, like our American Churches, was great. But like most things or entities that fall away from God's plan, the riches and its luxury ultimately leads to corruption and death. Heed, lest we forget that God is a God of righteousness and patience but He is not infinitely patient. This is apparent in the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah and the flood, (just to name a few.) Christ also showed anger and righteous indignation on certain occasions.

God's patience is limited! He has love and mercy for the penitent sinner and the person who loves and serves him but He will not infinitely abide unrepentance and our dishonor in compromising with sin. Heed, lest we forget that long before Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be destroyed by fire, that the men of Sodom were wicked, all-inclusive sinners against the Lord, yet, Lot found the land to be well- watered so, he chose to plant his family near Sodom. His false feelings of comfort for that "well-watered" land and the lust of his eyes for its abundance allowed him to compromise! Instead of avoiding the sinfulness of Sodom, he settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent towards it. (Gen 13:12), or right next to it. Before you know it, Lot’s sitting at the city gate,- yes, Lot is not only in Sodom, but now, Sodom is in Lot! He compromised with sin. It took two God-sent angels to drag him and his whole family out of there, with the collateral damage of losing his wife! (Gen 19:16).

The US Supreme Court decision recognizing gay marriage was eye-opening and should have taught the Church a much-needed lesson on compromising with the Word of God. However, it seems that she learned nothing. Yes, God is loving and merciful; but His loving kindness should lead us to repentance! Yes, He is the God of second chances, but our second chances should lead and guide us in the discerning of His truth! Yes, God loves us but His love is righteous and He demands this same righteousness and not the ratchetness which we now offer up as our truth! Our sins of omission and commission have come back to bite us in the butt! The church, in its greed and disobedience, its pandering to this world's system, and its weak Christians (along with the Trojan gift of the 501(c)(3) have placed us front and center in this contention! Thanks to this little "gift" the church now bows down to the government's idea of morality. This all-strings attached gift, comes to us wrapped in the beautiful, deceitful paperwork of special interest groups such as GLAAD. Their pro-LGBTQ infused beliefs now monitor the airways which we enjoy within the sanctity of our homes. It is their mission to make sure that all media (entertainment, news and digital) include the homosexual, transgender, and queer lifestyle. And we, like the world can't hold back the flow from this Tsunami!

Recently, when the Hallmark Channel found a homosexual commercial to be offensive and not in line morally with their intended audience, it banned the commercial from its network, only to be met head-on by the forces of "GLADD!" The weapons formed against Hallmark were: a punch to their bottom line of profits, a headlock threatening their future earnings. This ill-fitted match ended with a TKO to Hallmark's "moral intentions" which of course, resulted in them reinstituting that commercial. Unlike the do-gooders of the world, our lukewarmness has an even more, far-reaching effect upon the world because we are its salt. We are the ones put in place to balance their gait, to center their gravity, and to give them forward propulsion towards His light. But conversely, the trickle-down effect of our apathy has proven to be deadly and has collaterally puddled upon our children. Specifically in the ways in which we are now teaching them. Gone are the days of little boys and girls with their assigned orientations, their innocent cartoons, and banter. Enter the current day of the non-binary, gay, and transsexual agenda. Its aim is geared towards mainstreaming and normalizing homosexuality to our children through propaganda like the Cartoon Network's Steven Universe, which won its first GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Program in 2019, because of its prominent LGBTQ themes. Or the ever-popular Star vs. the Forces of Evil; where little girls confess crushes on other little girls and the lead character "Marco Diaz" challenges the stereotypical role of a little boy by happily dressing up in a little girl's princess outfit and going out on "magical girl" adventures. When "Adventure Time" revealed that its main characters, Princess Bubblegum, and Marceline (two females) were in love, their ratings hit the ceiling and our children watched... their romantic relationship was epic and celebrated around the world! And again, our children watched.

Yes, our chickens have come home to roost! It was under our watch and by our complacency. The comfort of Sodom with its well-watered lands beguiled us, and we in return sit at its gate bombarded from all sides, weak from consumption but not ready to succumb. In order for the church to now be effective against this vein of infiltration, the balance of her days must now be spent in damage-control mode. The time is past for our elaborate praise parties, and high-stepping across the front of the church on Sunday mornings in our fleshly displays. The wise and fervent Christian now has the dual role of both putting out fires and with that same extinguishing hand, extending God's Grace.