The book, "The Criminalization Of Christianity" by Janet Folger was authored and released in 2005. Janet warns in that book, using graphic incidents, of the threat the gay agenda poses to Christians. She makes the statement that up until about the late 90's, she had not given the issue of homosexuality much thought. That all changed when she heard a couple of speeches, one by Bob Knight, and the other by a lady in the gay movement. Bob Knight is the director of the Culture And Family Institute For Concerned Women of America. He had already warned, in the 90's, that the gay community had, as their goal, the criminalization of Christianity!

Yes, the agenda is to strike hard at the very belief system that we as Christians hold dear. The 2nd speech really opened the eyes of Janet to the truth of Bob Knight's statements. Janet became, you might say, a believer. So therefore she covered this social and moral issue in her book. That book was written 2 years ago and or so, but it's relevancy to our lives has become even more acute in 2007.

I too heard two speeches this week that brought this issue to the forefront of my mind. Before I comment on the content of these two speeches, let me bring your attention to another major news item this past week. General Pace created a firestorm in certain sectors when He said homosexuality is immoral. The fact of the matter is that military regulations are against this behavior, so General Pace is within his perimeters, and legal terms, to take this position.

We all surely have heard of the policy, "Don't ask, don't tell!" Ronnie Floyd, the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Springdale Arkansas has authored a book entitled, "The Gay Agenda". He chronicles in the book how this issue is dividing families, churches, and the nation.

Dear readers, the battle lines are being drawn and you can't hide your eyes like the proverbial ostrich in the sand to the reality of the times! Yeshua Jesus spoke of discerning the times. I would say, that's well given advice from the Master. Many are asleep, and sadly, many don't care to know what's going on in this world. Let me state emphatically, that this issue alone is going to eventually touch and affect us all in some form or fashion.

Let me now refer you, the readers, back to the two speeches I heard this past week. Barach Obama and Hilliary Clinton both pronounced in their speeches that homosexuality is not immoral!!

Now, unless I'm missing something here, this is cause for MAJOR alarm! These two powerful candidates have powerful support bases behind their bid for the highest office in the land. As we all know, the office of the presidency carries tremendous influence and power. As a society, we're already sitting, it would seem, on the edge of the social cliff! Would it be too much of a stretch of imagination to envision the right person or leader taking the nation over the edge on this issue?

I also heard one of the leaders of the gay movement this week on CNN state that homosexuality was a gift of God, even from the womb!!! Many are waking up to the threat that this movement poses to all of us throughout all aspects of our society.

Let me give a type of food for thought statement. The Church is the MAJOR, ULTIMATE battleground! A loss on that turf will be catastrophic to the very fabric of this nation and culture.

Let the position of this ministry be stated clearly and frankly on the issue under discussion-------hatred and attacks to do bodily harm to gays is just as much of a sin as the practice itself!

God loves those engaged in this practice, but make no judgment call in error, He hates the practice that HE calls a SIN throughout the Bible. Indeed, we are taught to love the sinner, but hate the practice. At times too, I would say, we've not done enough maybe to reach out and impact the gay community.

I remember, in the summer of 2004, talking to a member of the gay community outside of the Bancorp Coliseum in Tupelo Mississippi. They were there to protest and picket the push for a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution that was going on inside. There were several of us that day willing to see if we could talk and discuss the issue with them from a Biblical perspective. Do we forget that Yeshua Jesus ate with sinners as He had the motive and purpose to bring them into His presence and blessings?

Many of the gay community won't listen, as I witnessed on the Larry King show one night. Pastor Bob Jones was using Biblical quotes to Chad Allen in what I thought was a very gentle and understanding approach. Chad, in a somewhat agitated response said, "I don't WANT to hear what the Bible says!" I'll use that response from the gay actor to illustrate that is the core of the problem!!

There is more than one world view in our society, but only one world view that is enduring and permanent! That's the Word of God spoken in His Holy Book we call the Bible. There is such a thing as absolute truth!

The prophets of old, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the others, were called and especially commissioned by the Mighty God of Israel, Yahweh, to speak His word and to turn the people's hearts back to their Creator! We serve a God and Creator that wants to shower blessings down upon us, but we also serve a God whose throne is founded upon JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS as Psalm 89:14 records!

Did Sodom and Gomorrah mock their Creator and get away with it? You the reader know the answer to that question!

I believe in the principle, those who fail to remember History, are doomed to repeat it! The seriousness of this MAJOR moral and social issue was really elevated in my mind this past week! The battle lines are indeed being drawn! Our God has an army, but so does the other side! The name of the opposing commander is well known also. Hint, hint, he's a great, wicked, powerful, yet fallen creature. I also know that the final victory belongs to the army of Yahweh God!!

I warn us all though, that before the final victory that we're assured of, much suffering and pain, along with persecution, may well be our lot!

I would quote Joshua in Chapter 24, "As for Me and My house, we will serve the Lord!!" That, my friends, is the best advice I could give you!

I want to leave you, the readers, with something to think about that could be very insightful and profound in its implications. Mathew 24:37 says, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son Of God!"

Janet Folger, in her book that I've referred to in this article, asked Jeffrey Satinover the question, "Where are we in History?" Satinover holds degrees from Princeton and Doctorates from Yale, Mot and Harvard. He told Janet that according to the Babylonian Talmud, the book of Rabbinical Interpretation of the scriptures written a thousand years before Christ, there has been only one time in history that reflects where we are right now. According to these writings, at only one other time in history were men given to men in marriage and women given to women----Satinover reports, it was during the days of Noah!! According to Satinover, that's what the Babylonian Talmud says was the final straw that led to the flood!! Can we see the repeat of history found in Mathew 24:37?

I would end with the words of Yeshua Jesus----"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at my coming"

Shalom and blessings to all in Yeshua Jesus' name

Terry Beam