On Feb. 28, ‘04 an Associated Press headline read, "Calif. High court refuses to block gay weddings." The article reported that, "The California Supreme Court declined a request by the state attorney general Friday to immediately shut down San Francisco's gay weddings and nullify the almost 3,500 marriages that have been performed." The article also made mention of the 26 overruled gay marriage licences issued in New Mexico and 30 denied in Iowa City, Iowa.
The court challenge in San Francisco came as 25 more gay couples exchanged vows Friday on the steps of the village hall in New Paltz, N.Y. opening up another front in the growing national defiance.
Writing by the Spirit of the Lord the Apostle Paul recorded for us of these men and women in Romans 1:24-28, "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting."
The headline of the Feb. 25, ‘04 edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette read, "Ban gay marriage, Bush says...President calls for amendment to prevent same-sex unions."
Quoting from this article we read, "President Bush on Tuesday called for a constitutional amendment to prevent people of the same sex from marrying, saying gay marriages threaten "the most fundamental institution of civilization"...Bush said growing support for same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, California and New Mexico is "an aggressive attempt to redefine marriage" for the nation and must be halted before it goes further.
"If we are to prevent the meaning of marriage from being changed forever, our nation must enact a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in America," Bush said at the white House.
A constitutional amendment, under consideration in Congress, would most likely define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. But Bush said he would leave it to states to determine whether to legalize same-sex "civil unions," which provide gay couples with many of the same legal rights as married couples...[Bush] said he has become convinced marriage is an institution threatened by a Massachusetts court ruling legalizing gay marriage and by the issuing of thousands of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in San Francisco and New Mexico. "Their actions have created confusion on an issue that requires clarity," Bush said...In his announcement, Bush blamed "activist judges," among others, for overriding the will of the people"...The Senate...will begin holding hearings on whether to amend the Constitution to preclude marriages between people of the same sex. But whether Congress will pass such an amendment is unclear, with even lawmakers opposed to gay marriage expressing reluctance to take such a dramatic step."
A Feb. 27, ‘04 Denver Post article which headlined, "Comedian O'Donnel weds longtime girlfriend in S.F," quoted Rosie O'Donnel as saying that she and Kelli Carpenter had been together for 6 years and who are raising four children, "were both inspired to come here after the sitting President made the vile and hateful comments he made."
As was pointed out in the Colorado Springs Gazette article, the aggressiveness demonstrated by the supporters of homosexuality has made it obvious that no longer will the moral outlook of this nation's people, nor the laws of their land instill any shame or restraint on those involved with this abominable sin.
Stronger laws are now being called for in an attempt to halt the homosexual assault on God's institution of marriage. Lawmakers are at a loss as to how the homosexuals will define the physical consummation of their marriages.
Jesus warned in Luke 17:28-29 that in these last days it would become as in the days of Sodom. It is from this ancient city, known for its aggressive homosexual population, that we get our word sodomy.
At the time of Sodom's destruction we are told in Genesis 19:1-11 that the sodomites of the city were so given over to their lusts that any stranger wandering into their midst, even an angel from heaven, was considered prey to be sodomized by them.
There are many places in the world today where depraved sodomites have established dark enclaves where their unnatural acts go unchallenged. Swiftly and surely we are witnessing these perversions coming out from dark basements to be proudly proclaimed and even demanded in public. Their goal is for mankind to overrule God's Word and for all forms of their aberrant sex to be declared good and acceptable.
As shocking and revolting as the snowballing homosexual agenda may seem to most Americans, the US still remains a decade or more behind the gains made by homosexuals in other parts of the world where homosexual unions have already been sanctioned. Yellow pages in the phone books are full of ads depicting homosexual men and women that are available for personal services, while some countries proudly sanction the unrestricted public display of homosexual pornography.
Although the ultimate day when Christ will deal conclusively with homosexuality will be during the Tribulation Period the judging of this sin in individual places could come at any time.
In Isaiah 3:8-11 God tells of how ancient Israel provoked Him in much the same manner. He tells of the look on the sodomites faces in Israel having caught His eye and how they were no longer ashamed and even boastful of their perversion.
The Lord then comforts the remnant of the righteous who are exposed to the sodomite's sins by reassuring them they will be blessed while those of the wicked population will suffer from the consequences of their own evil.
"For Jerusalem stumbled, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves. Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked" It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him."
As it was in the days of these words of God, Israel's homosexual population is demonstrating even greater boldness and prominence in these last days as gay pride parades are held in God's holy city of Jerusalem. Israel's day of trouble beyond measure is coming.
What should be of paramount significance to Americans is that Bible prophecy reveals the European Union, not the United States of America, will be the dominant power over the world at the start of the final 7 year Tribulation Period.
No matter what one wants to believe about the Christian influence in America's history, whether it be in evangelizing, missionaries, charity work or even the laws of her country, there should be little doubt that God has blessed the good works of His people in its midst and watched over her carefully as the wheat and tares of the land grew up and flourished together.
Jesus warned us in Luke 12:48 that, "for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required," and as the prophet Micah recorded of God's blessed nation of Israel in the day that the sodomite no longer hid his sin, but proudly declared it, the Lord declares "Woe to the wicked, It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him." At the same time the righteous are told not to worry and that, "it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings."
It could very well be that the rising storm of homosexuality in the United States could be the final issue which brings an early show of God's judgment to America before the Tribulation Period begins.
Besides its idolatry, America now stands in brazen defiance of God with two of the most revolting sins men are capable of, murder of innocents by the act of abortion and sexual perversion. Both of these sins show utter contempt and disdain for the men and women God made in His image and scorn of His Word.
If this indeed is the last hurrah for America, then her demise could come in a number of ways. There could be an economic or ecological disaster, or maybe a catastrophic act of violence. Perhaps two or three of these misfortunes could happen at the same time.
One other possibility could come in tandem or lead the way for the demise of the United States' present position of prestige, it could be the snatching up of every true believer to heaven at the event referred to by prophecy students as the "Rapture." See I Thess. 4:15-18 for greater detail.
The ramifications of every true believer in Jesus Christ being instantly removed from off of the earth, and the United States in particular during a time of great upheaval could initiate unimaginable scenarios of chaos and internal disintegration.
At present we are only seeing the shadow of the monster of homosexuality, but it is a shadow which warns of what will soon arrive in the height of all its blaspheme when it will truly be just as it was in the days of Sodom.
Before that can happen God's Restrainer must be removed, in our opinion, as is foretold in II Thessalonians 2:6-7. "And now you know what is restraining, that he (Anti-Christ) may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way."
The Restrainer can only be the Spirit-indwelt Church of Jesus Christ.
We believe every person who has believed in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and has been born again by the Spirit of God, should look up to heaven and rejoice, for our redemption draws near.