A Sad Day...A Call To Prayer

For the next few days my blog will be written with a slightly different flavor. It has been my goal to write in a light, easygoing style. The reason has been twofold, first I selfishly enjoy writ ting in this style and find it a nice way to begin my day. Secondly, anyone who might read this will be able to have their fill of serious writing and commentary throughout the day. For a few days I ask you to bear with me as I feel there is a very important issue at hand that needs to be dealt with, and it cannot be done without seriousness.

Yesterday afternoon, a good friend of mine sent me a news article that I found to be incredible. I therefore researched it to be sure that what I was reading was not the writings of a kook. Sadly, I was able to verify through several other reputable sources that Ray Boltz had indeed proclaimed his preference to a homosexual lifestyle. I was taken back by this revelation.

Many of you have enjoyed listening to Ray use the talents that God gave him. I myself found solace and a life message through the song, 'The Anchor Holds', after the death of my son Mat.

How should we who are Christians respond to this revelation? The initial response is to condemn the man. Many may feel as though they have been betrayed and lied to by someone who claimed a personal experience with Christ, and gave us the image of a righteous husband, father and minister of the gospel. First let me say that in terms of betrayal, Ray has betrayed God, his family, and himself. That is enough betrayal for any person. For whatever betrayal lies beyond that, we have the responsibility to forgive. While I certainly have the responsibility to condemn the sin, and homosexuality is sin, it is only within God's purview to condemn the man. We as the body should hold Ray and his family up in prayer.

I would also like to address the comments made by Ray in his 'coming out' article in the magazine 'Blade'. Ray stated that this was how God made him and if that was how God made him that was the way he was going to live. God did not make anyone a homosexual, or a murderer, or a thief, or an adulterer, or a liar. These are things that we are born with a propensity to indulge in as we are born into sin. The temptation to sin comes from the enemy, the natural inclination to yield to that sin comes from within us. God did not put it there, mankind put it there when we chose to disobey God in the Garden. It was because of this sin nature, the natural desire to be our own god, that the sacrifice Jesus offered willingly became necessary. It is to this change of nature that Jesus speaks of in John chapter three where He tells Nicodemus that one must be 'Born Again'. Paul also writes in Romans 12 that we must not be 'conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our mind'. It is this natural desire to yield to sin that is destroyed when we totally surrender to God.

The lie of the enemy is loud and strong. The voice that sang the song that so bolstered my faith in a time of great need, is today speaking words that will undoubtedly give others the justification of their sinful desire, to follow in his footsteps and be deceived by an enemy who knows nothing of love, but thrives upon destruction.

We as the body of Christ need to mount a prayer offensive that will speak louder than the lies of the enemy, and allow those who struggle with temptation to see there is a better way...Christ's way.

It is interesting that it took something this monumental for me to write something like this...or for us to begin to pray.

Tomorrow I will write about Christian Music.

Jim