Article: APOSTASY - "The Great Falling Away"

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 says "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.…

As a Christian writer, prophet and pastor, there are certain issues in Christendom that become issues of great discernment and passionate concern to me. Subject matters that continue to stir up a fire and holy and righteous anger in my spirit. To the average CHRISTIAN is just trudging along day by day with legitimate cares and concerns with family and needs and provisions, I mat come across "too serious; an extremist or radical "apocalyptic-minded" CHRISTIAN who is too intense and gets fired up in a high level of spiritual octane intake! I admit that I am probably not your typical man of faith, but the Holy Spirit gives me divine insight and foresight and with these spiritual gifts as a prophet, pastor who possesses discernment and the gift of exhortation, I can't sit around with my head in the sand and just say "Que. Sera Sera....whatever will be will be. I hear some CHRISTIANS say, "why get worked up about it-- whatever God is going to do He is going to do". But that is not necessarily true. God Can change His mind. He did it when the City of Nineveh repented of their sins when Jonah was finally obedient and brought forth a prophetic word from God. There are too many CHRISTIANS who are saying things like, "God is going to do what He's going to do", or "With the is due of homosexuality, can't we all just get along. Let these people alone and let them do what they're going to do in peace". But these attitudes are wrong and I would image JESUS saying to those who think this way, "Get behind me Satan" (like He said to Peter when Peter said he would stop what was going to happen with Jesus' crucifixion. Someone has to take a stand for "Truth and righteousness because how will they hear without a preacher (who preaches the unadulterated Word of God).

With the signs of the times we are living in, we are seeing such blatant evidence of specific truths coming into fruition right before our eyes, unfortunately there are MANY eyes of CHRISTIANS that are closed or blinded to truth and they are compromising and if they are not yet there, they are heading into the Camp called "Apostasy". The bible warns us all of a "great falling away" (Apostasy) and yet, this very warning seems to have been ignored under the guise of CHRISTIANS with good intentions are living the homosexual with the Love of Christ, but that is where their efforts in leading these precious souls in to the totality of salvation (deliverance)-- they are seemingly afraid of offending the gay and lesbian if they take their attempt to "fellowship" with these folks to the next step in sharing the scriptures (ie., 1Corinthians 6:9-11) that identifies homosexuality as "one of the sinful lifestyles folks are living will not enter the Kingdom of heaven". They NEED to recognize their homosexuality as a sin and in doing so, they need to see their need for repentance and allow The Holy Spirit to make the necessary changes -- this leads them into experiencing God's Transformational Power. Folks it is a "PROCESS".

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO SHARE WITH YOU THE INSIDE MINDSET OF MANY MEN AND WOMEN WHO ULTIMATELY DETERMINE E (AND SAFEGUARD) THEIR CHOICE IF SEXUALITY: This was my backstory of when I was a gay man (before I accepted JESUS Christ as my Lord and Savior). In my sharing this mindset, I believe I was not alone in what led me to believing my "identity was in my sexuality". When I was first embraced by believers and followers of Jesus Christ in church, (as a homosexual at the time), they also explained that homosexuality is a sin that God abhors and that gays and lesbians will not enter the kingdom of heaven. At first, yes, I was ticked off and wanted to storm out of the church. I was immediately offended and said, if you are not willing to accept my sexuality, then you are not willing to accept me, because my identity IS that I am a gay man-- born this way and I refuse to have anyone "force to change me in the name of religion. I was born gay and this is just who I am!" I vowed to never return to any CHRISTIAN church. I sincerely believed if CHRISTIANS really meant it when they said "they loved me", then they would also have to support my choice in sexuality (because in my belief, at the time, I truly believed that my claiming being a gay man was something I had been born to be and after many years of inner turmoil, I was finally strong enough to no longer run away from what I called Truth for my life. Obviously something changed in me to make me embrace "The Real Truth" later, when I became a Christian). What I didn't understand back then in those moments was, "My identity was not found in my sexuality". But I didn't get that and I wasn't about to let any CHRISTIAN "JESUS Freak" tell me I was going to hell if I was a gay man. I believe this is the same defensive stance many gays and lesbians would react today if a Christian would tell them that God abhors homosexuality so much that gays and lesbians will Not enter the kingdom of heaven. TRUTH IS NOT AN EASY PILL TO SWALLOW AFTER YOU'VE OVERDOSED ON WORKING FOR SO LONG IN SAFEGUARDING THE COLLECTIVE "MANTRAS" AND "SOLIDARITY" OF SO MANY OTHERS WHO WHOLEHEARTEDLY AND PASSIONATELY BELIEVED THEY WERE BORN AND DESTINED TO BE DIFFERENT AND NEEDED TO STAND UNITED IN DECLARING "WE'RE HERE - WE'RE QUEER- GET USED TO IT"! (A POPULAR CHANT THAT WAS HEARD BY MEMBERS OF THE LGBT GROUP (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender).

But there is a little scripture in the Bible (John 8:32), that I am constantly quoting -- that says, "It is the truth sets the captives free" (paraphrased). Well, if this was true, then that would mean that I would have to identify myself as being "a captive" -- "enslaved or in bondage to sin" -- the "sin" or "bondage to sin" would require me to recognize and acknowledge that "homosexuality" was a "SIN". If I did indeed recognize that my being gay was a "sin" I would have to also acknowledge a great error I had made in believing the lifestyle I was convinced I had finally embraced was "my true authenticity". I would also have to disconnect from my paradigm that had been formed by so many years of ridicule, mockery, and torturous peer pressure that forced me into a corner where I eventually found the courage to come out swinging. My scars and bruisings would drive me into an endless determination to find others who would solidify my attempts to justify my choice in living as a gay man. I would set out to find others who were also trying to find a place to fit in; and to join a group of others who also felt peculiar or "Not normal" and who were willing to "unify" and take a stand against any part of society that tried to attack us with their religiosity" or "psycho babble and gibberish jumbo jumbo" where psychiatrist or religious clergymen were determined to "prove" of just how unnatural or perverted our sexual preference really was not "appropriate" in the eyes of society or in the larger eyes of Our Creator whom a lot of us could only imagine was an "Amazonian Bully God who carried a very large stick, swinging it aggressively back and forth-- ready at any moment to join with the rest of the collective bullies we all had to try to outrun and outsmart at every turn, (which included trying to strategize what route to take home after school every-- determining the fastest and safest route that would lead us to our house where we could feel secure with several locks on the doors and windows)-- all efforts in order to escape our daily terrors that built up the closer the last bell in school chimed and released us back out into the big, cold and cruel world of real life monsters and demon-seed spawns who made it their mission to terrorize every "misfit" in their sphere of influence (the school hallways, bathrooms, alleys, and your neighborhood no matter how far away they lived from your street).

Please keep in mind that I am giving you insight into the mindset of many homosexuals who you, the Christian, may be up against, when having the opportunity to "minister the love of Christ" to these precious souls. I was one who entered the church as a "broken" man with all of this bottled up, collected, safeguarding, on-the-run for years, defensive, victim of social and peer pressure abuse. As CHRISTIANS, we desperately need the assistance and discernment of The Holy Spirit and "The Great Physician" ((JESUS Christ) to help us with love and "acceptance" of these wounded souls. The challenge CHRISTIANS have today is that with "society now accepting the LGBT community with the "Law of the Land" (The United States Supreme Court, on June 25, 2016, declaring the legalization of same-sex marriage in all 59 States in America), CHRISTIANS are uncertain on how to proceed in not only loving these individuals in the Love of Christ, but how do they tell them that homosexuality is a sin according to The Holy Bible. We risk "offending the gay or lesbian with the TRUTH in its entirety" and so congregants and church leaders are fearful of "offending"-- and let's add another issue into the "onion layer" and that is the controversial topic of "hate speech". Let me provide you with the "definition of Hate Speech" (see below):

"In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group". (Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia).

So back to our dilemma-- what do we do? There are currently laws being considered here in America that could have Pastors (clergymen) who shares the Bible passages that clearly state homosexuality is a sin. Language is currently being reviewed that would lead to possible arrest with jail sentence, as well as, a fine issued for "offending a gay or lesbian congregant" because the Pastor shares, not from his personal opinion, but rather, what the Holy Bible (God) says about the sin of homosexuality. In some countries there have been individuals who have already been arrested for "street preaching against "sexual sins to include the sin of homosexuality" (example: Tony Miano, a retired deputy sheriff and former chaplain with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept., was charged with “using homophobic speech that could cause people anxiety, distress, alarm or insult.” He was "air preaching (street evangelism) in the streets of London and a passerby, a disgruntled woman, began videotaping what he was saying regarding "the sin of homosexuality in the Bible". He was later arrested that same day, jailed and interrogated for several hours. He was released without a fine, and upon return to The United States, he shared his concerns regarding America's future law enforcement penalties against Pastors who will continue to share the unadulterated Word of God concerning the subject of the sin of homosexuality.

Again, there is a spirit of fear and intimidation spreading throughout Christendom, thus, causing Church Leadership to either sustain from even addressing the issue of the sin of homosexuality in accordance with The Holy a Bible, they dance lightly around the subject or they simply omit any scriptures that call homosexuality a sin. I would say, "Woe to the man or woman who would alter or omit any part of the Word of God (regarding homosexuality or any other sin for that matter)." You are walking on VERY DANGEROUS GROUND when you stop sharing "the truth that sets the captives free". As a former gay man, I praise God that there was a Pastor who wasn't afraid of "offending me" with TRUTH. I would be one of millions of other lost souls who would be heading toward eternity in Hell -- and this is exactly what we are doing if we, as CHRISTIANS (and our Pastors or other clergymen) are intimidated so much that we only give a hug and stroke these lost individuals with the Feather of the Love of Christ-- no disrespect to the power of The Love of Jesus Christ, but we also must love these souls with the use of The Sword of Truth that leads them into the totality of deliverance and salvation. I would rather "offend these lost souls into the Kingdom of Heaven" than to lovingly appease them with a "feather stroke of love that will push them to the edge of a cliff that drops them into the Pit of Hell where they will spend eternity.

RADICAL AND EXTREMIST FOR TRUTH THAT SETS THE CAPTIVES FREE? ABSOLUTELY! AND YET, EVEN IN MY SEEMINGLY RANTING AND RAVING ON THESE VERY REAL AND LEGITIMATE ISSUES CONCERNING THE LOST, I STILL FEEL THAT I AM NOT DOING ENOUGH! There is much work to be done while there is daylight my beloved. Please join me in taking every opportunity Father God gives us in whichever means He chooses for us to do so and get out there are share "The Truth that sets the captives free". I pray not, but even if I may one day have to, find myself sitting in a jail cell for the sake of my unwillingness to water-down or compromise The Word of God, then I trust God will divinely protect me. May He give all of His People the courage, boldness, wisdom and strength to share the unadulterated Truth of God with a lost and dying world. Again, I say, I wouldn't be a born-again, Spirit-filled CHRISTIAN today if a Pastor wasn't willing to share the TRUTH that set this "captive" free! ALL GLORY TO GOD! Go with God my beloved while there is still time to tell others about Salvation and Redemption we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! SELAH and AMEN!

02-06-16 J.