THE GAUNTLET
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NOT
ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL An excerpt from a sisterly rebuke of Misty Irons by Sally Apokedak Misty, God long ago gave us a tool for saving people. It is the foolishness of preaching. It is not solely the foolishness of preaching on Sunday morning or evening by an ordained minister of the word that is able to save. I believe that the message preached ... the gospel ... is the power of God for salvation, no matter by whom it is preached. No one can be saved apart from the gospel. So if you want to see your gay friends saved, you must pray that someone will preach the gospel to them, if you are unable to do it yourself. In refusing to give them the gospel and in trying to shame other Christians into silence, you are not fighting man but God. When he calls preaching foolishness, he is saying that those perishing find it foolish, but we know that those who are being saved find the gospel preached to be an oh-so-sweet savor. God is not encouraging us to actually be ashamed of the gospel when He calls it foolishness. And Paul makes that clear when, in the midst of talking about all the gays and other disobedient folks, he says that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God for salvation. If you love the gays, give them the gospel and quit being ashamed of it. God is able to save those he wants saved. Really. If he saved you, he can save them. If you were overcome by His love, why do you think they won't be? If you were miserable in your sin why don't you know that they are also miserable and in need of someone to love them enough to tell them the truth? If you love God because He first loved you and if you dropped your dearly loved sin in preference for God, why don't you believe He can so overpower them also? Misty, they are miserable as all the lost are. There is no joy to be found in rebellion against God. Have pity on them and preach the word that can give them joy beyond comprehension. Tell them about the God who lavishes His love on His children and gives them far more than they can ask or imagine. What manner of man is this, even the wind and waves obey Him.... Oh, perverted affections cannot stand up to the Man who walks on water. He who knit them together in their mothers' wombs and who makes the blind see and the lame walk can surely give them strength and peace to bear their burdens now or deliver them completely if He sees fit. He demolishes strongholds; He is our strong tower; He is the God who triumphed over powers and principalities at the cross. What is an errant heart of stone to Him, that He shouldn't be able to make it flesh if He so chooses? How can we doubt that he is able to deliver us from our sinful lusts and habits? Tell them, Misty. God is great. Our God is able and willing to set the prisoner free. He loves sinners. He died for sinners. He is happy to clothe them and heal them and forgive all their iniquity. Oh, merciful, loving God.... Sally Apokedak is a member of an Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wasilla, Alaska. The material above is an excerpt from a response she posted on an Internet discussion group debating the Misty Irons article. Ms. Apokedak's response was prompted in part by Mrs. Irons' comments on her web site Musings On Christianity, Homosexuality and the Bible. |