Adoption

"Christians today are cringing at God's explicit condemnation of sodomy and are looking for some new place to stand. Desperate to find a sweet spot halfway between "marriage equality" and the Apostle Paul's "degrading passions," we find "gay spiritual friendship" scratches us just where we itch."

To identify as "gay," "queer," "lesbian," or "homosexual" is to declare our rebellion against God Who made us. When we say we're "gay," we repudiate the personhood and duties God assigned us when He created us one of only two sexes, man or woman. It's analogous to a man claiming he's a monkey or cat imprisoned in the body of a man. He refuses the human nature God gave him at the moment of his conception. So it is with the man and woman who say they're "gay"; they refuse to confess the sexual nature God gave them at the moment of conception.

Yes, there are questions we would want to ask those who identify as "gay." Why are you in rebellion? What contributed to your rebellion? Do you see your rebellion as soft or hard-wired? Is the origin of your rebellion tied to anything obvious in your past? Your childhood?

We will ask souls with this besetting sin such questions, and many more. We will be sensitive, tender, and loving. But if we truly love them and trust the Word of God in its revelation of the nature of sexuality, all our ministry with gays will be founded on the hard fact of their rebellion. It is the only solid foundation from which to minister to Christians who claim gayness, and within the church their number is growing. How could it be otherwise given our squeamishness...

(Thanks to Jake.) Watch this short video about Ernie Johnson, host of TNT's Inside the NBA. Watch it with your son. God bless Ernie Johnson who walks in his father's footsteps. Here's how the video ends:

Ernie Johnson Jr.: You learn from your dad well, and you pass that on to your kid. Now let's keep that going.

He makes the barren woman abide in the house As a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD! - Psalm 113:9

Because of joy, which is reason enough; and because of thanksgiving which this week is; and because of Scripture's close tie-in of a man's work as a pastor and his family; and because multiplication of family members is one of the most frequent promises of God to His people, as well as God's personal promise to me when I returned to him that night out in California; and because daughters raised by a misogynist and daughters-in-law married to men raised by a misogynist love to give themselves to stay-at-home-motherhood, pregnancy, adoption, and childrearing; and because testimony to His faithfulness is displayed and commanded throughout the Psalms; and because we just received another grandchild from God—Moses from Ethiopia; for all these reasons, and more, here are a couple pics...

A reader commented asking whether I would not prefer a child be adopted by a homosexual couple than to live in foster care. To which I respond:

As for sodomite adoption as an alternative to foster care, one evil doesn't justify another. And no, I would not myself rather be adopted by a sodomite pair than to be in the home of a loving, Christian foster father and mother. Even a loving non-Christian foster father and mother. Even an unloving non-Christian foster father and mother. Even an unloving non-Christian foster father. Even an unloving non-Christian foster mother. Even an unloving non-Christian orphanage of ten-thousand. Even the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

Imagine growing up with every second of every day...

Here is a case that perfectly illustrates the wickedness of our social systems today.

It's not hard to see there are major problems, but which one should we focus on? There are bribes, threats, child abandonment, contract killers, kidnapping, child-trafficking, and it's all going down in Connecticut and Michigan. The number of people involved is mind-boggling. Oh, and it's all perfectly legal.

Woman A gave up some of her eggs.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1)

Everyone who knows anything will tell you global warming is true; or at least likely enough to be true to justify a plate-tectonic shift in all the world's economies. Everyone agrees. Science doesn't lie.

Everyone who knows anything will tell you literalists are embarrassing to the young, restless, and Reformed entrepreneurial enterprise. It's time to climb on Jack Collins' and Tim Keller's bandwagon. It's time to join all the brilliant genomists and brilliant exegetes and embrace evolution. Everyone agrees. The high priests of the Human Genome Project and scientific exegetes don't lie.

Everyone who knows anything will tell you Scripture is stupid--an ancient collection of myths. Take, for instance, that very old myth that man was created first, then woman; and that the meaning of this fact is that woman is not to teach or exercise authority over man. Also, that same-sex intimacy is an abomination before God and that God abandons men and women to receive in their own bodies the fair or just penalty of their perversion. Everyone agrees this is not true. God's Word is a lie.

Everyone who knows anything will tell you gay parenthood is good for the children; or at least good enough to justify a plate-tectonic shift in artificial insemination, adoption, and family law. Everyone agrees. Science doesn't lie.

Then a social scientist does a study of the emotional and mental health of adult children of same-sex parents...

(TB: On the occasion of the thirty-ninth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I post this message. It would please me if you would take the time to read it. Thank you.)

I remain amazed that abortion could even become a political issue in a country with pretensions to being civilized. It is as if we were to debate the merits of legalizing cannibalism, with the liberal side chanting the slogan "Keep government out of the kitchen!"

There is no danger that the other side will ever be persuaded that it is wrong; there is, however, the very real danger that we will become discouraged, worn down, and inured to an evil that should always horrify and sicken us. The erosion of our consciences is surely part of the destructiveness of this abominable "procedure."   - Joe Sobran

The Lord'€™s Throne Is in Heaven

(For the choir director; a psalm of David.) In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain; for, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'€™S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face. (Psalm 11:1-7)

Thirty one (now thirty-nine) years ago today, on January 22nd, 1973, the Supreme Court of these United States issued its infamous ruling, Roe v. Wade, in which the Court declared that a mother's intentional killing of her unborn child was a fundamental right guaranteed under our Constitution. Since that ruling, it has been a commonplace to observe that Roe v. Wade, the Court's repeal of the laws prohibiting abortion on the books of all fifty states, was simply the exercise of raw judicial power with a legal justification based upon a mist and a vapor--€”or as the Court itself might put it, emanations from penumbras.

Our Supreme Court: intentionally conniving at murder...

Since 1973, no one has made a name for himself defending Roe. v. Wade’s history, biology, ethics, logic, or justice; and only a few have been foolish enough to claim this ruling will stand the test of time...

WORLD just went to print with a cover story mentioning our son and his wife, Joseph and Heidi Bayly, and their adopted son, Tate. (The online version of the article includes the video below.) The piece is about African adoption. Mary Lee and I have two grandsons who came to these United States from Africa and we hope to have another, soon. Doug and Heather Ummel's son, Josiah, as well as Joseph and Heidi's son, Joseph Tate Bayly VII, are both from Ethiopia and Joseph and Heidi are working towards adopting another child from Ethiopia as soon as the Ethiopian goverment does its paperwork.

It would be churlish of me to keep my recent post critical of WORLD up on Baylyblog, so I've removed it. I thank WORLD for its advocacy work on behalf of orphans in their distress. This is true religion.