"Christian celebrity", SD gay pride, disrespecting God.

Tammy Faye Messner Dies after 'Larry King' Interview By Kevin Jackson
Christian Post Reporter
Mon, Jul. 23 2007 11:26 AM
Famed 80s televangelist Tammy Faye Messner passed away over the weekend at the age of 65, according to her manager on Saturday. The woman who was dealt a life of controversy, including a corrupted multi-million dollar ministry and uncontrollable addiction, took her last breath following a bout with cancer at her home near Kansas City, Mo., on Friday morning.
Messner appeared on Larry King Live the night before she died, and spoke about her faith in God and the difficulties that come with cancer. (To read the rest of the article, click here.)

I can remember back in about 1987 or so, Kelley and I were visiting with an older couple from our church. On their coffee table was a big glossy book. It was all about the PTL ministry that Jim and Tammy Baker were running at the time. I had never heard of it but something seemed oddly suspicious to me even back then. It goes back to what I've said before, the term "celebrity Christian" is an oxymoron. I don't know if the Bakers set out to be celebrities, but they ended up that way for better or worse. It's great to know that today Jim Baker has confessed and repentented for the PTL scandal. I hope and pray that Tammy Faye did her best to apologize for those controversial years.

Oddly enough, Tammy Faye became another celebrity of sorts in her last years...to the gay community, primarily men. I never really did figure out that connection, but somehow it was there. It seems like the gay community (being the minority that it is) does an amazing job of getting their message of tolerance out to the public.

As you may know, the annual gay pride parade was held over the weekend here in San Diego.

Gay parade a diverse display

Politicians and firefighters join bikers and drag queens
By Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

One wore nothing but leather briefs, sandals and a wide grin. Others favored hot pink Spandex with halter tops or barely-below-the-waist dresses that kept needing to be tugged down.
But most of the thousands of people who lined University Avenue yesterday for the San Diego gay pride parade went with – get this – T-shirts and shorts, denim jeans, cotton sun dresses and lots of plaid. It was the backyard-barbecue crowd celebrating diversity and equality and a fair shake for everything and everyone, with a predictable splash of corporate marketeering and political grandstanding tossed into the mix. (To read the rest of this article, click here.)

More and more, the gay community is doing their best to be accepted as "normal, just like everybody else." That's just not that case. They are normal in that they are human beings loved by God. They are also normal in their desire and need for love and intimacy. However, they are not normal on how that need is met in their lives.

Most Americans do not agree with this lifestyle and most Christians know that the Bible teaches against it. There is an interesting post further down on my blog site in response to the comments I made last week. I pointed out the parallels between those who believe in evolution and homosexuality in regards to dismissing what the Bible has to say. These comments come from a friend of mine, a Christian who is convinced that the Bible is not against homosexuality and that the vast majority of Christians who say it is are wrong. I'm going to do my best to respond to his post, so let me know what you think of all this.

(Paul, thanks for taking the time to read over my thoughts and post your own. I hope we can still remain friends even though we disagree.)

On Sunday I preached on the unpardonable sin, "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit." Some of you may recognize this guy, on the left, Christopher Hitchens. He is known for his iconoclasm, atheism, antitheism, anti-fascism and anti-monarchism. He also wrote: God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

Here are a few of his quotes:

“When the earthquake hits, or the tsunami inundates, or the twin towers ignite, you can see and hear the secret satisfaction of the faithful. Gleefully they strike up: ‘You see, this is what happens when you don’t listen to us!’ With an unctuous smile they offer a redemption that is not theirs to bestow and, when questioned, put on a menacing scowl that says, ‘Oh, so you reject our offer of paradise? Well, in that case we have quite another fate in store for you.’”
“Islam is at once the most and the least interesting of the world’s monotheisms. It builds upon its primitive Jewish and Christian predecessors, selecting a chunk here and a shard there, and thus if these fall, it partly falls also. Its founding narrative likewise takes place within an astonishingly small compass, and relates facts about extremely tedious local quarrels.”

Turns out that many of the responses on Myspace to his book were Christians who completely disagreed with him. (To read more, go here.)

Once again the minority (whether it be the gay community or the atheists) do an amazing job of getting their gospel out. It's good to know that many Christians are willing to be just as vocal in their opposition.

Christopher's twin brother, Peter Hitchens is an outspoken journalists also, yet is a Christian. If you'd like to read about their differences, click here and here.

As I mentioned on Sunday, those who post their blasphemy challenge on Youtube or are as outspoken as Christopher Hitchens should be scared for their lives and eternity. The Bible clearly points out that those who are unrepentant will perish. Let's pray that all those who claim to deny God will come to their senses, repent and turn to God.