The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Church Leaders

Title: The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Church Leaders

Text: 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:6-9, Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27

Date: June 26th, 2009

 

Last week I talked about the “Absolute Absurdity of Gay Pride,” strongly objecting to the new president’s proclamation of June as “Gay Pride” month in the United States. Also, while I was on a similar subject, I then talked about the “Absolute Absurdity of Gay Churches,” pointing out the impossibility of reconciling homosexual practices with legitimate, biblical Christianity. Now, while still on the same general subject, I’d like to address the whole issue of so-called gay clergy within the church, by calling this talk “The Absolute Absurdity of Gay Church Leaders.” You may or may not be aware of the fact that in a few church denominations and in some local Christian churches there are practicing homosexual church leaders – pastors or elders or deacons or board member or church council members. In denominational structures there are even practicing homosexual bishops or overseers – or whatever the specific denomination may call them. Ever so often these gay church leaders receive attention in the national news reporting on their specific situations. For example, a few years ago news reports described the United Methodist Church embroiled in a controversy involving a lesbian pastor in a local church who was fighting for the right to remain in her leadership position within the Methodist Church. The report also indicated that she had an open lesbian lover. As it turned out, she was permitted to remain in her position as pastor. In a far more important and controversial case, an openly homosexual Episcopalian church leader was installed as bishop in New England. And while the Episcopal Church has been ordaining gay clergy for a number of years, it had never elevated one to the level of bishop or overseer before. A bishop is a position that provides leadership coverage not just on a local church level but also carries with it the spiritual responsibility of a whole region of churches and the leaders and members of these churches. So whether it is right or wrong, whether we like it or not, there are a number of recognized Christian churches that are placing into leadership at all levels openly acknowledging and practicing homosexuals. Now the question is not whether it is or isn’t taking place – it is. Rather, the question is, is it right or wrong, is it permissible by God or is it not? And the only way to answer that question is to return to the Bible, specially the New Testament — which is ultimately the final authority for matters of faith and practice within Christianity, and more specifically, in the Christian Church. When we turn to the New Testament of the Bible we find that there are very specific qualifications for church leaders. Besides the general qualifications for all Christians found in the whole New Testament, there are very specific qualifications for church leaders found primary in two places: the books of 1 Timothy and Titus. Any bona fide church leader must pass qualifications in these two places. So with that, I’d like to review the basic qualifications for church leaders. Then, I’ll review basically what the New Testament teaches about homosexuality. Finally, I’ll show that based on the qualifications the New Testament places on church leadership and based on what the Bible teaches about homosexuality, there is absolutely no way a practicing homosexual can legitimately hold a position of church leadership. I never dreamed that I’d ever have to argue such an obvious case, but because more and more people are confused these days about such things, it’s obvious I need to spell it all out once again as clearly as possible. A practicing homosexual has no business in church leadership – at any level.

The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Churches

Title: The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Churches

Text: Genesis 19:1-29 (4-5, 29), Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27

Date: June 23rd, 2009

 

Last week I talked about the “Absolute Absurdity of Gay Pride,” strongly objecting to the new president’s proclamation of June as “Gay Pride” month in the United States. This week, while I’m on the same subject, I’d like to talk about the “Absolute Absurdity of Gay Churches.” Yes, that’s right. There are so-called “Gay Churches” in more and more communities throughout the country. These so-called churches, many which identify themselves as Evangelical churches, claim that they are full-fledged members of the Christian church or Body of Christ. Members of these “churches” say that they must gather together in gay-friendly churches because they feel unwelcome and discouraged and discriminated against in typical churches. They say that they must form their own congregations and affiliate with a different denomination – such as the Metropolitan Community Church, in order to pray, worship God, fellowship and receive instruction in Christianity. They claim separate pro-gay churches are needed until the wider Christian community accepts and finally embraces people of different sexual orientations. While some churches in the main-line or so-called “old-line” denominational structure are opening to welcoming and affirming homosexual Christians – such as the United Church of Christ, the Episcopalians, the United Methodists, and the Northern Baptists, for example, most churches and denominations still object to the practice of homosexuality as sinful and therefore something to be discouraged, not encouraged or accepted. Because they are not accepted yet in all churches and denominations, so-called Gay Christians must meet separately for now in separate churches and denominational structures. But wait. Don’t all Christians conclude that homosexuality is a sin? Isn’t in plain from the Bible that homosexuality is contrary to the law of God? Isn’t it clear both in the Old Testament and New Testament that the practice of homosexuality is sinful? Isn’t Sodom and Gomorrah the best-known examples of God’s opposition to homosexuality? Isn’t it clear from the judgment of God that came upon these ancient cities, as recorded in the Old Testament, that homosexuality is a sin? Not according to the so-called Christian pro-gay movement. Despite millennia after millennia of traditional biblical understanding that Sodom and Gomorrah are examples of God’s displeasure and opposition to the sin of homosexuality, according to the members of the so-called pro-gay churches everyone has got it all wrong for thousands and thousands of years. They say the Bible has been misinterpreted; it never really teaches against homosexuality at all. All the familiar verses used to teach that homosexuality is a sin are misinterpreted. Accordingly, one can be a full-fledged Christian and practicing homosexual – and need not repent. One can be a member of a Bible-believing church that teaches homosexuality is not sinful, according to this view. Same-sex marriages can be performed and blessed within the church with God’s full endorsement — and so forth and so on. Now the big question is, what should be the wider Christian community’s response to such claims? I’d like to weigh in on the issue by first of all stating categorically that these kinds of claims are absolutely absurd! They are rationalizations and denials of biblical truths – and not very good denials and rationalizations either. But because they are heard more and more today, I’d like to go through these claims and show why they are false. According to the Bible and authentic Christian teaching, homosexuality is a sin. That is very clear when the Bible is examined carefully. Let me point out three areas that show why Christianity and homosexuality are totally incompatible, and that it is absolutely absurd to speak of “gay” churches or “gay” Christianity with any degree of seriousness.

The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Pride

Title: The Absolute Absurdity of “Gay” Pride

Text: Romans 1:26-27, Psalm 2:1-5, 10-12

Date: June 18th, 2009

 

The Following is an absurd “proclamation” released by the new president Barack Obama:

 THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release                                     June 1, 2009
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION
Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.
LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country’s response to the HIV pandemic.
Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration — in both the White House and the Federal agencies — openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.
The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.
My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.
These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA

 I’ve never heard of such a foolish thing coming from the highest office of government. Let me explain why I object so strongly as a Christian to the president promoting homosexuality.

Is There Any Hope For the Jews?

Title: Is There Any Hope For the Jews?

Text: Romans 11:1-16

Time: November 18^th, 2006

Over and over again the Apostle Paul comes back to the question that has been haunting him time and time again — what about his own people the Jews? He can’t get this question out of his mind and grapples with it for three straight chapters in the Book of Romans. As mostly Gentile Christians today, we don’t grasp the enormity of the problem from a Jewish Christian perspective — how could God’s very own chosen people reject their very own Messiah in Jesus Christ? What is to become of the Jews? Has God abandoned His very own people? Is God through with the Jews? Paul spends another whole chapter dealing with these questions. The tragedy of the Jews rejecting Jesus is something that he and other Jewish Christians could never get out of their minds. Again, we are isolated from this problem today because we never knew a time when the Jewish faith was predominant in our culture, but there was a time in ancient days when the Jews were the primary teachers of true spirituality to the world. For example, the Jews basically taught the world monotheism, or the belief in one God. Polytheism, or belief in many gods, was common among many civilizations, but belief in just one God was rare indeed in ancient times. The idea that there might be one, overall ruling God over many other lesser gods might have been the belief of a few people in recorded ancient civilizations. For example, there was an ancient king in Egypt who taught that there was one god over all the gods, but his teaching only lasted during his lifetime. Egypt was known as a polytheistic culture before and after this ancient king. His belief in one god died with him. But in the case of the Jews, belief in one God was the main article of its faith. As historians have concluded, the Jews taught the world monotheism, or belief in one God. So the Jews had an enormous influence in the ancient world far beyond their size and strength. They also helped the world learn the rule of law through teaching such things as the Ten Commandments and preserving the Law of Moses in the Bible. In the 4^th century B.C., the whole Bible was translated into the Greek language thus giving Gentiles even greater access to the teachings of God. So coming from such a great tradition of usefulness to God, by rejecting the Messiah Jesus, the Jews basically turned their back on God and so God basically turned His back on His own people the Jews. The Gentiles were pouring into the Kingdom of God through the gospel, while the Jews sat on the sidelines refusing to enter. But the burning question Paul had in witnessing all of this was — is this rejection of God by the Jews, and the rejection of the Jews by God permanent? That’s the topic of Romans 11:1-16 (read). Here’s Paul’s answer.

Is There Any Excuse For Unbelief?

Title: Is There Any Excuse For Unbelief?

Text: Romans 10:14-21

Time: November 14^th, 2006

Today, we face a similar question that Paul faced long ago, “With so many people refusing to believe in the gospel, could it be that they have some good excuse to give for their unbelief?” In Paul’s day, it was the problem of the Jew’s unbelief; today it is the problem of both Jews’ and Gentile’s unbelief. Might there be some good reason why people simply do not believe, some good excuse they can give? For the Apostle Paul, the Jews of his day had no good reason or excuse for not believing, and even though their hardness of heart was in the plan and purpose of God in order to open the gates of salvation to the Gentiles, there is no justification for their rejection of the gospel. Today, we might ask the same question of men and women in our own country, the United States: is there any possible excuse that people can give to justify their stubborn rejection of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ? But wait. Someone may object to the question because after all from the surface it would seem that people in the United States are not rejecting Christianity, but in fact believing in the gospel. From the look of things, the gospel isn’t being rejected but instead is being accepted by Americans today. Yes, from the surface it might appear that the gospel is receiving a widespread popularity among our people today, but that would only be true on a superficial level. In reality, the true gospel of Jesus, the saving gospel, is in fact being rejected by a majority of people today because much of what is being called Christianity today isn’t true Christianity. Not everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian is in fact a Christian. The saving gospel of repentance and faith in Christ alone is different from what is called the gospel by many professed Christians. Today, whatever is called Christianity is pretty much accepted as such, but we know this cannot be because of the lack of true Christian spiritual fruit that it bears. If every person calling himself a Christian in this country was in fact a true Christian, then the kingdom of God would have already arrived and society would be a lot different. Obviously something is wrong with this picture. What is wrong is that true Christianity is diminishing in this country, along with Christian beliefs and moral values. People’s hearts are turning hard to the things of God no matter what label they put upon themselves, Christian or otherwise. Just as the Jews in Paul’s day, people today are more likely to reject the gospel of Jesus rather than accept it. But what can explain this hardness of heart? Maybe they have some good excuse? Maybe they are not hearing the gospel? Maybe they are not understanding it even if they hear it because of a problem of communication? Paul’s answers to these questions concerning the Jews apply to our understanding of why people are rejecting the gospel today. Let’s listen to what the Apostle has to say in Roman 10:14-21 (read).

It’s Hard Doing Things the Wrong Way

Title: It’s Hard Doing Things the Wrong Way

Text: Romans 10:1-13

Time: November 3^rd, 2006

I was once out cutting wood with a chain saw when the chain got loose and fell off. I had to put it back on, but I must have got the chain reversed because when I went to cut the wood it only spun and spun without really cutting much of the wood. I couldn’t figure it out because the chain was a fairly new one, and it was cutting ok before it fell off, but now it would hardly cut into the wood at all. I knew something was wrong. Suddenly it hit me: maybe the chain was backwards. I didn’t even know that a chain could be backwards because it looked just like it did before it fell off the chainsaw. But as I looked closer at the chain, I noticed that the teeth were facing the opposite direction from the way the chain was supposed to spin; it was backwards. So I took the chain saw apart and reversed the blade and it worked perfect. I was trying to do the job the wrong way. It makes a big difference; doing something the right way or doing it the wrong way. That’s a lot like the way of salvation with God. If we come at salvation the right way, we get rewarded with forgiveness, blessings, and eternal life; but if we come at salvation the wrong way, we only get unforgiveness, God’s curse, and eternal separation from God. How we come to God for salvation is very important. The Apostle Paul in the Book of Romans has been explaining the right way to come to God for salvation. The right way is through faith in Jesus Christ. He then spends time trying to explain how it could be that God’s chosen people the Jews could miss out on salvation by failing to put their trust in Jesus. His conclusion is that it must be in God’s sovereign plan for the Jews to reject salvation at the present time in order that the Gentiles might receive it now. He explains that God had predestined things to be as they are. But then at the end of his explanation, he comes back to the subject of personal free will and continues with this theme into the tenth chapter. That’s where we are today, in Romans 10:1-13 (read). Paul is explaining the free will aspect of salvation: first, how the Jews are mistakenly pursuing salvation by works; second, how the Gentiles are correctly pursuing salvation by faith; and third, how salvation is available to everyone, Jew and Gentile, through simple faith. Here Paul is emphasizing the free will aspect of faith. In the last chapter, Paul was emphasizing the mysterious aspects of predestination, how behind all human decisions God has already decided, and how even though we think we are in ultimate control, really God is in ultimate control of everything. Now Paul changes gears and emphasizes the importance of everyone taking responsibility and choosing to place faith in Christ or not. He wants to show us that salvation is as simple as trusting in Jesus the Savior.

The Potter and the Clay

Title: The Potter and the Clay

Text: Romans 9:19-33

Time: October 27^th, 2006

There is a famous church hymn that goes, “Have thine way Lord, Have thine own way. You are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still.” That old hymn uses the example of the potter and clay just as the Apostle Paul uses it to illustrate man’s relationship to God in Romans 9. Paul is talking about predestination in order to answer the question about why God’s chosen people the Jews are not being chosen by God for salvation through faith in the gospel. God has now opened the hearts of the Gentiles to believe in Jesus, while his own chosen people, the Jews, have closed their hearts to their own Messiah’s salvation. How can this be? Paul’s answer: it was predestined to be. God is the potter; we are the clay. Behind all human choices, God makes his own choices. Beyond all human understanding and comprehension, God already knows, God has already decided. And yet we are all called to choose because our choices will have eternal consequences. How can this be? How can our choices and God’s choices fit together? Paul never answers that question, yet he accepts both predestination and human free will as both true. Some people say that explaining predestination is an attempt to know the unknowable. That is probably true, which is why the Apostle Paul never tries to explain predestination; he only teaches that it is true. Paul uses it as an explanation as to why God’s chosen people haven’t chosen salvation in Jesus. Paul’s answer: God hasn’t chosen his chosen people for salvation in Jesus. Why haven’t the Jews chosen the gospel? Because God hasn’t chosen the Jews to believe the gospel. Why have the Gentiles chosen the gospel? Because God has chosen the Gentiles to believe the gospel. Now in saying this, Paul explains why the chosen people haven’t chosen their own Messiah; because God hasn’t chosen them. But it raises still more questions about the fairness of God towards people, particularly those who aren’t chosen. Paul answered a few of these questions in the last section, Romans 9:1-18, but in this section, Romans 9:19-33 (read) he answers more questions about predestination. Romans 9:18 ends this way, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” In this we hear Paul teaching about the core of predestination, but he answers more questions and explains more objections. “Have thine own way Lord, Have thine own way. You are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still.” Let’s see if we can understand this old church hymn better in this passage in Romans. Here’s what Paul says.

What About the Jews?

Title: What About the Jews?

Text: Romans 9:1-18

Time: October 25^th, 2006

We now come to one of the biggest mysteries of the Christian faith – predestination. It’s such a great mystery that some people even deny that it is even a part of the Christian faith, it’s such a profound perplexity. But it clearly is, as Paul explains in Romans 9. What is predestination? It is simply the understanding that behind and beyond all human decisions, God ultimately decides. And yet it is also true that we as humans are called to decide. Predestination teaches that even though humans decided, God ultimately decides. How does this whole topic come up in Romans? Because Paul tries to explain the problem of the Jews. What is this problem? It is that even though the Jews are God’s chosen people, it seems that as far as Christianity is concerned, God’s chosen people aren’t choosing and aren’t being chosen by God to be Christians. That’s a strange paradox. God’s chosen people aren’t chosen. That’s almost a contradiction. So Paul has to address this whole problem. First, he underscores the fact that the Jews really are God’s chosen people by listing all the evidences of their being chosen by God. Second, he begins to explain how it could be that’s God chosen people aren’t chosen by God. Finally, third, he tries to explain how God is ultimately choosing and how God has the absolute right to do the choosing, even if it doesn’t seem fair. In this section, Romans 9:1-18 (read), Paul’s emphasis is on God’s right to ultimately choose, but in the next section, Romans 9:19-33, while continuing the theme of predestination, it ends with the theme of human free will. How can this be? How can Paul talk about predestination and then free will in the same chapter? Because both are true, both are taught from beginning to end in the Bible, and both are presented for us to believe. How can this be? Because sometimes things can be true without our ability to see how they can be true. This is an instance of that occurring. Predestination is definitely taught in the Bible; Paul teaches it clearly in this passage and the next passage in Romans 9. But so is free will taught also in the Bible, and even by Paul himself in this same chapter! How can this be? Because life is bigger than logic. Because as the Bible says elsewhere of God, “My ways are not your ways, neither are my thoughts your thoughts.” The truth of predestination is beyond human understanding; it exists in the mind of God; maybe the angels understand it, maybe they don’t; maybe we’ll understand in the next life, maybe we won’t. But regardless of whether we will ever understand it, it is the truth, and God understands it, and so from his perspective it makes complete sense. Now the concept of free will we can understand, it makes sense to our thinking. It also motivates us to decide because we understand that we are accountable and responsible for our decisions and how we live. But that doesn’t mean that predestination isn’t also true; it is, but in a way we don’t understand. Paul uses the truth of predestination to explain how the Jews can be God’s chosen people, yet not be chosen by God. Let’s here what he says.

The Twelve Apostles — Peter the Rock

Title: The Twelve Apostles – Peter the Rock

Text: Matthew 10:2-4

Date: May 24th, 2009

Last week I talked about the Twelve Disciples in terms of three groups: role models or leaders, like Peter; regular disciples or followers, like Andrew; and betrayers, like Judas – and I generalized about how these three groups characterize the population of traditional Christian nations and culture in the world today. Some people are model Christians or even leaders, most people are ordinary Christian believers who serve God to some degree, and finally, others have turned away from Christianity, either from personal faith or from general Christian nominal cultural faith. We see these three types of people in our nation and culture today. That was a bit abstract. Today, I’d like to talk specifically about the historic disciples, starting with the Apostle Peter. His name is always first in a list of the disciples of Jesus. He always seems to be the spokesman for the group. And he seems to naturally emerge as lead-disciple. Perhaps more is known of Peter than any other early Christian leader, except for the Apostle Paul. But there is also a lot of misinformation about the Apostle Peter as well. Some Christians claim that he is the first Catholic pope, although that seems to be reading-back into the historical record an idea that developed much later. For example, in the early church, it wasn’t Peter who was the leader in Jerusalem but rather the Lord’s brother James. In Acts 15 we see James making the final decision at the Jerusalem Council about the relationship between the Jewish law, the Christian faith, and the Gentile believers – not Peter. We would think that if Peter were indeed the first “pope” that he would have been the one who ratified the Council’s conclusion – as modern day pope’s do – not James. So we see there is misinformation about Peter as well as solid, historical information about him. What I’d like to do today is touch on three aspects of the Apostle Peter’s life. First, his calling by God; second, his training by Jesus; and third, how he led by love. We know more about Peter than any of the other twelve disciples; we know more about him than any other New Testament personality except for Jesus and the Apostle Paul. What we find about Peter is that he’s an ordinary man who was called to do an extra-ordinary thing and given extra-ordinary ability to do it. In this sense, he serves as a great role model for us all. Before Peter’s calling, most people can identify with him. He’s busy making a living, was a family man, yet was also a believer in God and a follower of the moral law. Nothing stands out special in his life, but when Jesus calls him as a disciple his life is changed. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be with everyone who hears and answers the call of God to salvation? He then displays the ups and downs of a disciple of Jesus learning to follow the Master under all situations. In the end, he remains faithful and fulfills God’s will for his life. What a great example for us all. God calls us, yet is patient with us as we learn and grow through trial and error just like Peter. In the end, hopefully, we too can fulfill our Christian calling in life like Peter. Let’s look more closely at Peter’s life.

What About Suffering?

Title: What about Suffering?

Text: Romans 8:18-27

Time: October 27^th, 2006

In describing the wonderful new life in Christ we have through Christian conversion, Paul doesn’t hide the fact that we will probably undergo suffering in our efforts to live such a life. How different the Apostle Paul is in speaking realistically of suffering for the faith as opposed to many Christian speakers, teachers, and pastors today who teach that the new life in Christ removes us from suffering. These overly-optimistic church leaders use the promise of a Christian “good life” to attract people to the gospel, but what often happens is that converts to this overly-positive gospel soon find themselves facing difficulties, pain, and suffering — and wondering what is wrong. Nothing is wrong, and if they had listened to Paul they would have learned that the new life in Christ brings blessings with suffering also. Why? Because living the truth in a world of lies will bring trouble. Living the right way will collide with people living the wrong way. Look at the example of Jesus. Here is one who lived the truth, lived what was right, lived the good — and look where it got him – death on a cross. Is there a more tragic way to die? For living a perfect life he was tortured and murdered by sinful men. He was opposed by both the religious people and the secular people. He was misunderstood constantly. His motives were questioned; He was accused of things, charged with other things, constantly attacked, finally captured, beaten, and ultimately killed. If it weren’t for the triumphant resurrection and ascension into heaven, Jesus’ life would have been a tragic failure. It’s the same with us today as we go about living a truly Christian life. We will be misunderstood, our motives will be questioned, we will be accused of narrow-mindedness, fanaticism. We will be opposed by friends and family who do not accept the gospel message we bring. We will be rejected by others for the radically different lifestyle we live as Christians as opposed to the sinful lifestyles of the world without Christ. We will be resented for trying to communicate the gospel, the Bible, and the Christian life to others. We may be persecuted in some form for our faith, hopefully not with violence, but in other different ways. All of this is to be expected; that is what the Apostle Paul wants to communicate to Christians. But whatever suffering we have to go through to believe and live the Christian faith, it will all be worth it in the end. In this final section of Romans 8:18-39 (read), Paul states this message of hope even amidst suffering in three different ways using three very memorable and famous Bible quotations. These three sayings are easy to remember and help us hold on when we are facing difficulties and suffering for the faith. Let’s hear what Paul is saying to us about facing suffering for Jesus.