The joys of raising kids are also, at times, challenging. I remember when Abby was just 10 years old; we were at Schlotzky's. A man came up to her, that I had known, and he said, “You sure are a cutie! Who’s your boyfriend? Who do you like?” She was embarrassed, had a red face. I was about to punch him. It was that awkward situation where several things were going on, and he walked out the door. As we got in the car and were talking, Abby said, “Daddy, can I ask you something?” Our rule in our home is there is nothing we can’t talk about. Everything is fair game. If mom and dad respond wrong, you can call us on that, and we will work it through. Everything is fair game.
She said, “Daddy, when that man talked to me, I had a picture in my mind and a thought that was really sexual, what do I do with that?” I said, “Sweetie, are you OK?” She said, “No, I don’t know what to do.” She talked about this picture she had in her mind. I said, “What do you think?” She said, “I know it’s terrible, I don’t want it, Daddy.” Then she paused, and said, “But, Daddy, there’s something in me that also likes it. What do I do?”
I said, “Sweetie, that is called sin. And I have had those same thoughts and wondered what to do with it and have been conflicted myself at times.” We talked about it and I told her it was sin because that’s not the way God created her. He created her for a man, and for the context of marriage and a future and not at 10 years old. But what do we do with those thoughts? I said, “It’s not the thought that makes you sinful, it is what you do with the thought. Let’s go to Jesus.” So we got down on our knees together, and went to Jesus with the stuff that came her way. We gave it to Him and said, “Jesus, replace it with Your goodness and Your loving-kindness. We want to be satisfied in you. We don’t want the things of this world to distract our hearts.” It was a defining moment in our relationship. It was a defining moment in Abby’s life, where she would stay true to honor God with her thoughts, deeds and actions until the day she was married.
In that moment, two things happened as a father. I was clear that this is sin. But I was compassionate with the journey as God had been compassionate with me. Clarity and compassion, that is the heart of God to keep us in the way that He has designed and created us. Let’s begin from the beginning on this message of clarity and compassion.
Genesis 1:27-28 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
God was clear from the beginning: He created us in His image and called us male and female. It was good and right. In the male side, he created masculinity with what was needed to represent who He is. Not only was it good, but it was needed. He created female and feminine side and said it is right and good. It was perfect for Him and they were perfect for one another. He created it just as it should be.
The phrase goes on, and He blessed them. He blessed them. There was the sense of rightness from God. He had let them know they were valuable and worth. He honored them. “You are woman. You are man. You are good and it is right. I celebrate who you are.” And they had that sense of knowing all was right because my Father has said so.
Kids are always looking for the blessing. When you grow up, a little kid will say, “Watch me, Daddy! Watch me jump!” and the dad always celebrates and says how awesome their kid is. They are looking for affirmation for the littlest things in life, because they are wondering “Am I OK?” I remember when Abby was around four or five, she asked me the simple question, “Daddy, are you proud of me?” It broke my heart. I thought why does she have to ask that? I listed all the ways I am proud of her, even down to I think she’s sweet, beautiful and merciful and I hugged her and told her how much I loved her. I could see a smile come on her face and a sense of “I am okay.”
I went back to the bedroom and got before God, and said, “Why does she have to ask that? God, what have I done wrong?” It seemed to me that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Don’t you need to know that? Don’t you need to know I am proud of you and value you? Value her. Love her. Honor her. Bless her. It’s what she needs. It’s what we all need. It’s okay.”
God created them male and female, He blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Out of the beauty and joy of sexual intimacy, have children and see this earth flooded with righteousness and goodness. See the beauty of how I have created you. Multiply out and raise up contributors back to see this earth be all that I have called it to be.” God in the beauty of male and female brought together to procreate in order to multiply and subdue the earth with His goodness as He intended.
In Genesis 2, God re-institutes the clarity piece around the covenant of marriage, between a man and woman. They are rightly fitted together.
Genesis 2:21-24 “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
This covenant of marriage instituted right from the very beginning. It was in this context that the covenant of marriage, that sexuality was rightly expressed. From there, they would have a sense of oneness. The sense of masculinity and femininity came together as oneness to express the beauty of His creation. All was right, but then sin came in.
Genesis 3:1-9 “Now the serpent [which is the Devil, he is called the Father of all lies, and this lie was about to change the course of history for all of us] was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said [has God really said? Has God really said these feelings that don’t line up with His Scripture need to be submitted to Him? Has God really said?], ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’’ The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! [Again, trumpeting the voice of God] For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ [Basically, God is holding out on you, there is something better] When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’”
Here’s the setup: the devil comes to lie and ask the question, “Has God really said?” The woman begins to deliberate it and eventually her husband with her. She said, “But it feels so right. My feelings see this and that; I’m going to go with my feelings instead of what God has said.” Immediately, darkness comes over them, they feel shame and pull back. God shows up in the garden, and cries out, “Adam where are you? Where are you my children?” He knew where they were. But He was saying, “Where did you go? I love you, I created you. I only have goodness for you, why did you choose another way? It’s now brought blindness and pain and fear and shame. That is not how I created you. Where are you?”
The heart of the Father still cries out for you and I today. “What happened? Who deceived you? What bent you the wrong way? I have a better place for you and a better plan for your life.” It’s in this context that the apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, writes the book of Romans. He is writing to a pagan world that has gone astray. He is writing to new believers who need to figure out the confusion of the society around them and say, “What does God say? What does He have to say about life and sexuality?” In the midst of it, like a loving father, Paul is extremely clear. He is pretty strong here to try to make a point about this brokenness causing them great pain unless they turn to God.
We talked a little about our own brokenness last week, but I want to pick it back up again in Romans 1, starting in vs. 25:
Romans 1:25-28 “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.
The exchanged the Truth of God for a lie, and got into sexual brokenness. Now, I want to be clear. There is no way today to answer all the questions that come in the context of these passages, especially in the confusion of our current situation. We find ourselves in a situation much like the Roman Empire. But I am going to try to answer some of these Truths versus the lies that we hear day in and day out because I love you. I want the best for you. I want to see clarity and compassion be wedded together so we can walk in the original way God intended for us.
Back to vs. 25 “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie,” What is the Truth? What does God say about this particular area of sexuality/homosexuality? What does God say about this?
Truth #1: Homosexuality is a sin.
Lie #1: Homosexuality is not a sin.
This is not defined by man. This is defined by God. The word “sin” literally means to miss the mark, to miss the way God intended us to live. Homosexuality is not the sin; it is a sin along with greed, immorality, anger, malice. There are a myriad of things that are missing the mark in the way God intended. This one is highlighted specifically because obviously there was some confusion that caused great pain. It had to be clarified. That is our heart this morning. To back it up, just biblically, there are seven key passages in the Bible that specifically deal with homosexuality. I want to highlight three.
Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
Again we just read Romans 1:26-27, God gave them over to shameful lust.” Basically, He let them do what they wanted to do. “Even their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do not be deceived, neither the sexual immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderer, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Again, it is not THE sin, but a sin that is clearly against God’s intention. This is not the way God designed us. Where is the compassion in the midst of this Truth? The compassion is great. Ninety percent of people who are in a homosexual lifestyle (that would be a consistent lifestyle of sexuality related to this particular issue) were abused in some way. Most of them were sexually abused somewhere in their development years. There is also either emotional abuse or physical abuse. Abuse is a part of the journey, because when abuse happens, it mars the image of God and of how God created us.
You add on top of that, the exposure issues we face like never before through the internet and pornography. With the normalization of it through the media these days, it becomes interesting where it was never interesting before. You add to that, the pain of bullying where someone is being called names because of their personality or gifts or who they are as a person. You add the pain of that, and people just take on the label because they don’t know what to do with it because there is nobody there to walk with through the pain.
There is great compassion in the midst of any sin, and specifically in the midst of this one. That compassion is seen in the eyes and life of Jesus. He came into our world to rescue us from all sin and specifically today, from this sin as well.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus loves you, He reaches into whatever the brokenness is, and He offers a place of deliverance by His side. He is not asking you to do better on your own. He has become the Savior of the world because we cannot change on our own. He’s made Himself the answer and the compassion in the midst of our pain.
Truth #2: Temptation is not a sin. That is a truth. Temptation is not a sin. My temptations sexually, whatever they might be (same sex or otherwise) are not sin.
Lie #2: My temptation sexually means that I must be a homosexual. That is not true.
We have all kinds of temptations that go on in our lives. It is what we do with those temptations that ultimately determine our destiny in life. It is not feelings that determine us, it is not thoughts that determine us, it is what we do with them and where we take them. The most compelling passage on compassion related to our temptation is speaking of Jesus Himself in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest (speaking of Jesus) who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things, just as we are.” Isn't that amazing? Every issue of temptation, Jesus experienced it, yet without sin.
Jesus experienced temptation in every arena, and chose not to sin. He went to the Father with His stuff. It would be kind of like if I had a thought to murder somebody today because I was angry at them, but I took it to Jesus, that doesn't make me a murderer. If I have a temptation today to commit adultery, but I choose to take it to Jesus and not go that way, it doesn't make me an adulterer. In the same way, if you have a sexual thought, or a same-sex attraction temptation, that does not make you a homosexual. It just means, “Okay, I’m struggling, just like everyone else. But I am taking this to Jesus because that is not the way He created me and I will trust Him with what I need in life.”
Temptation is not the label. Temptation is being a human. Therefore, you are not condemned; there is no shame in our temptations. There is mercy in the midst of our temptations.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as common to man. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you’ll be able to endure”
Regardless of the strength of what you are feeling, God has planned a way of escape for you and for me, by His goodness and by His grace.
Truth #3: God is able to give us power over every sin, including homosexuality.
Lie #3: I am a homosexual in thought, in action and I cannot change.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (And here is the key passage) Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
You were that way. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God. All of these sins, not just homosexuality, but greed and anger, it says “such were some of you,” but you've been washed. You've been cleansed, sanctified and justified by God Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sexual feelings and desires do not determine who you are. God does. You are a son or a daughter, you are male and you are female. Some people might say this, “Well, what about science?” And they said they are about to get a scientific breakthrough that gives proof of a gene that gives people a disposition to heterosexuality or homosexuality. Though that isn't scientifically clear yet, when they find it, I will not be surprised. We are all born with flawed DNA. We are born in the image of God, and we are born into sin.
Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me.”
They already have found a gene for those that have a propensity towards alcoholism or drug addiction. They say there are certain people that sin has passed down, and they have a great propensity to drug or alcohol addiction. It is a scientific issue, and they need to be more careful than anybody else. I say there are certain people that have more of a propensity to homosexual thoughts or outside of the bounds of God heterosexual thoughts… There are all kinds of propensities because our DNAs are flawed. That is why we all need Jesus. We all need a Savior no matter what the issue is. We all have propensity to things outside God’s design and best for our life.
It does not surprise God. It does not surprise me, and shouldn't surprise any of us that people have feelings and propensities to certain sins that are not God’s design. We are flawed by nature. That is why we need a Savior.
Truth #4: God and the Church are to be the love, truth and healing for sexual brokenness.
Partial Lie #4: God and the Church want nothing to do with me if I am a homosexual or I struggle with same-sex attraction.
Let me say as a father and a pastor. Forgive me. Forgive us. Forgive the Church. Forgive us. If you struggle with same-sex attraction or a homosexual lifestyle, forgive us for not communicating compassion and kindness and openness and the ability to talk about and work through anything. Forgive the Church for platitudes that had no person beside you to walk it out, nobody to explain or help you out of the brokenness and the pain. Also, forgive the Church, forgive me, and forgive us for being silent and not bringing clarity with compassion.
When you don’t know what the destination is, there is only confusion. You are left with one person saying one thing and another saying another thing. You don’t know what to do when you feel this or that, the Church has been silent. Either with a platitude that gives no hope and health and partnership or with silence that adds to the confusion instead of quelling the confusion, the Church has been silent.
A father doesn't do that. A father gives clarity. “This is who we are, son. This is what God has called us to do.” He gives us compassion; we are all on a journey. There is room, at this house to journey.
I want to say ahead of time, there is room in this house to journey. Wherever you are on that continuum, whatever the brokenness of your life looks like, there is room in this house to be honest and open, to journey. We can’t compromise on the clarity, but we can create greater arms and bigger hearts related to this struggle that so many of us go through.
The Church is to be God’s healing place. The mission of Jesus actually is wrapped around this concept. One of the first messages Jesus preached in his public ministry was quoting Isaiah 61 that said this, speaking of Himself…
Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captive and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion (speaking of the Church), giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Throughout the Scriptures, we as people are often referred to as trees, being rightly planted in God. The interesting things about trees, is that most of them go through a marring experience somewhere in their development. Several years ago, we lived here in the neighborhood. Our tree in the front yard was a great magnolia tree. Our kids loved it. The branches were just perfect for climbing, it was awesome. One night a tornado touched down on top of our house. It ripped up our roof and fence, and marred this tree. It literally almost split in half. Half of it was gone. As I talked to people about cutting it down, we looked at it and still saw life in it. You could see sap coming out of it and the leaves were still green and we let it go a few days, then a month, and it still had life in it. But it sure was ugly. Actually we prayed about it, we would pray over the tree, “Lord, bring life to this tree. Don’t let it die, we love this tree.” Little by little, it healed itself and grew. It grew a little funky, a little left over here and little bush over here. It grew a little awkward. Today, if you drive by our old house, it looks full and rich and right again. If you went up in the branch system, you would see some funky curly-q’s in the midst of it.
When a tree is reforming itself out of brokenness, it twists itself and is a little different. Actually, those twists and turns make it stronger than it was before. When Jesus says that He is on a mission to set captives free, and give freedom to prisoners. He is not on a mission to just take away a little bit of the pain; He is on a mission to reshape you into something of even greater beauty.
In the midst of our brokenness, we will be like oaks of righteousness planted in the house of the Lord. Never perfect, but always more beautiful than before because we found a Redeemer and a Savior in the midst of our challenge.
This is the Truth of the Good News of Jesus and it is the Truth we as a Church are committed to working through until we see Him face-to-face.
Truth #5: God’s design for relationship and sexuality is normal and He defines right and wrong.
Lie #5: Homosexuality is normal, therefore we should accept it.
Let me clarify a little bit in addressing our culture and the challenges we face. In reality, statistics from many social scientists, secular social scientists, have come up with these basic figures:
- Ninety-four percent of men in North America would consider themselves heterosexual by nature and by desire
- Ninety-six percent of women would consider themselves heterosexual by nature and by desire
- Six percent of men would call themselves homosexual in their attractions, their desires and in some way living out a lifestyle
- Four percent of women would say this is my desire, my propensity and how I live life
- Only one percent of women, and two percent of men would call themselves “gay” as an identity of who they are
These are usually social structures or groups or political groups that are defining who they are in order to fight back, if you will, for their own rights. The reason I give you the statistics is this, it is not because there isn't great compassion for one or two percent or anyone else, but to say the voices of the few are determining the destination for the rest.
We are allowing the voices of a few to determine the destination for the rest. Where is the compassion of God in the midst of this? The compassion of God wants us to be clear as a society for the sake of our children. I can say it this way, if a six year old comes to their father and says, “Dad, I have attraction to other men. I am attracted in this way.” The voices of our culture say he needs to tell him, “Oh, that’s okay. You are gay. You are a homosexual.” That is heart breaking. A little boy’s identity because he had a passing thought or attraction – that is normal. It is normal in the development process of understanding sexuality. Parents should not undergo shame, or fear or pull back from their kids. They need to say, “OK, it’s normal. Sexuality is normal; this is what we do with it. This is where we take it and who God says you are. This is what God has for you, young man or young woman.”
For the sake of our children, we cannot let the voices of a few determine their development process. The reason people are confused is because their development was superseded by another thought, action or situation. May we not add to that by simply acquiescing to the choices of a few. May we be a voice of clarity and love for the sake of the next generation. Whether they call themselves Christian or not, there has to be clarity and identity. When there is not clarity in the development, it puts them on a slide for the rest of their lives. They are in an inner turmoil that can only be solved in Jesus Christ with a dramatic life change from heaven.
For the sake of our children, we are to be compassionate and clear as mothers and fathers in this generation. By the way, whether or not the statistics were as I described, even if they were flip-flopped, it would not change the moral rightness of God’s design.
Truth #6: By lovingly being clear about God’s Truth, you rescue people from the destruction of sin.
Lie #6: If I don’t accept homosexuality as normative, I am unloving.
That is a lie. I am more loving when I am trying to rescue people than when I am trying to pacify people. I am more loving when I am trying to rescue people and bring them back into the way God created them, than when I am empathizing in a way that does not give them an opportunity for the freedom God promises. What are the consequences, not just of homosexual sin, but sexual sin outside the context of the covenant of marriage? Why is there really no free sex or any safe sex? What has happened in this sexual revolution? We talked a little bit about it last week. There is great destruction physically to people’s lives. Sexually transmitted disease is off the charts. In certain homosexual acts, there is destruction in the body physically. Statistically, a homosexual man at 20 years old has a 32 percent chance of living to be 65 years old. A heterosexual man who is sexually committed in the right context as God created it, has a 78 percent chance of living to be 65 years old.
It is a wear and tear on the body because we are not made for sexuality outside of God’s bounds. Psychologically it is amazing. Study after study after study say those who choose a homosexual lifestyle and all that it contains leads to suicide, depression, anxiety disorders, relational disorders, complexities. Psychologically it turns their world upside down.
To those who would say it is because it is not accepted in our society and if it were accepted those problems would not be near as high. In the Netherlands, which has been very open and accepting to a homosexual lifestyle as normative for over 30 years, the statistics are exactly the same as they are in America. They are exactly the same. It is not an openness that is the problem. It is the consequence of not living life God’s way.
Lastly, the consequences of sin are relational breakdown between men and women, and between loving committed relationships. There is relational breakdown and ultimately, as I said, my greatest appeal is for our children. The confusion in the children leads to a further scarring and marring and complexity. The abuse in children who grow up in same-sex couple homes, if they have children, there is a 32 percent higher chance that they will experience some kind of sexual abuse and become a sexual abuser themselves.
It is not because people are not loved; it is just that it’s not the way God intended it to be. There are consequences for our sin, whatever it might be. Specifically, in this context there are consequences.
How does this work out? What does this practically look like? There is a guy named Mike Haley. Mike is an advocate, a helper, a rescuer for those caught in homosexual sin. Mike’s own story goes something like this: he grew up in the church, they shared Jesus and both sides of his family had a heritage of faith. At eight years old, he received Jesus as Lord and thought he was on the right track to being who God wanted him to be. Mike’s dad owned a chain of sporting goods stores, and his dad was an athlete and believed Mike should be also. He introduced him to baseball, football and basketball and had high expectations for him, but Mike could never meet those expectations.
Out of his pain, he drew to the love and acceptance of his mother and sisters. Eventually his dad began to call him a sissy. He would add words like “You’re worthless. Just go run off with your mom and sisters; you would rather play with them anyway.” He began to scar and mar his own child, without even knowing it. In the midst of it, Mike began to look for male attention in others.
There was an employee who was a nice older man who took Mike on vacation, and eventually by 11 years old, it turned into a sexual relationship. From 11 to 18, through his development years in high school, as a teenager, he said “I was always confused and conflicted. I would hear one message at church and knew it was wrong, but I was in this lifestyle and it was giving me identity and nurture and care and I didn't know which way was up.”
He went to a school counselor and said, “What do I do with these conflicts?” and she said, “Mike, you’re gay. That’s who you are; embrace it and all the pain will go away.” He said, “I tried that for a few days but still felt conflicted inside. Then I went to a youth group leader and explained the challenges that were going on, at least in veiled terms. They told me they understood and I needed to read my Bible and pray more. The more I read and prayed, the angrier I got. I was getting no help.”
There wasn't anyone walking beside him. The church wasn't walking beside him, they were telling him to get over it. He had no power to get over it; he needed somebody by his side. He went into 12 years of the full blown lifestyle, and everything that goes with it. He said after twelve years, he was going to the gym where a lot of homosexual men worked out and followed a man out that he was interested in and initiated a conversation with him. He told me he wasn't into it, but was walking out of the lifestyle. He said he had found Jesus and walking out of it. Mike said he was angry and said, “Oh, I tried the Jesus thing, it doesn't work. You can’t get out of it. It’s who you are.” He said, “No, it’s not who I am. I met a guy named Jeff and Jeff not only walked out of it, but he is doing great and has been helping me with that journey.” About that time, the guy looked up and they were in the parking lot and said, “There’s Jeff right now…” Mike heard this voice in the back of his head, a Scripture he had read growing up as a little boy. The voice came and said, “Mike, My hand is not too short to save you.”
Mike dialogued with Jeff, argued and debated with Jeff over a four year period of time. He worked through the complex pain of his journey to a place where he felt he was free from the addictions of sexual sin. He was ready to begin to move forward as a different person. The way Mike would describe it in the coming years was, “It was never easy, but I found the abundance and grace of Jesus. I found the innocence being returned to like it was when I was eight years old, before the abuse. The freedom and the innocence returned.” It eventually led him to meet a wonderful lady who came alongside him; they got married and now have two teenage boys. They began to minister to youth and kids, trying to help them with identity and the pain of abuse and the issues that come with it.
They then had opportunity to be involved with a large ministry in our nation that helps rescue people from the brokenness of our world. The Scripture that carried the day for him was Jeremiah 15:19…
Jeremiah 15:19 “Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘If you return, then I will restore you— before Me you will stand; and if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman.’”
Remember the story of the bent tree? Mike was bent. For several reasons, Mike was bent. The compassion of God never quit pursuing Mike. He has gone through that process of restoration. He is still a bent tree. He would never say that he is not tempted, but he now knows where to take it. He knows where hope is, where life is and he knows that God has not only given him strength, but made him a rescuer of others. God’s goal is not just to get us out of our stuff; it is to turn us to be rescuers for others and be a display for his glory, unashamed.
My hope and prayer this morning, is that we have gotten Biblical clarity in the midst of the confusion, but a message of great compassion. There is no shame wherever you are. Jesus died for sin, that is His whole mission and heart and this house, this church, our mission is the same. Our arms are open wide to wherever you are in the journey, and He will be here for you, and we will stand with you. We will walk together to that place He originally designed us for, because when we are there, we are made whole.
