X Close Menu

Standing for Marriage for The Good of All

A good friend, leader in ministry, and co-laborer in ministry, Andy Comiskey, Executive Director of Desert Stream Ministires has organized a call for prayer and fasting for the sanctity of marriage through the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  I am embracing this call, and I am asking others to do so as well.  Below you can read Andy Comiskey's call and reasons behind the fast  Please click on the hyper links for more information.

______________________________________________________________________________

honoring_marriage_for_the_good_of_all

Calling for 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting for Marriage  •  October 17 - November 25
Click here for more information


8 Reasons to Resist ‘Gay Marriage’

1. ‘Gay marriage’ radically redefines the meaning of marriage.

Marriage is the most basic and arguably the most important building block of civilized society. For thousands of years, society has made marriage the one context in which sexual attraction between a man and woman matures into an enduring, exclusive unit that creates and protects children.

Marriage has always been defined by gender complementarity, or gender unity within difference, and by commitment, a pledge of permanence and fidelity. ‘Gay marriage’ radically alters that definition, and the values that underlie it. To say that the definition of an apple must include the attributes of an orange changes the meaning of an apple. It ceases to be what it was. Similarly, ‘gay marriage’ changes the meaning of marriage as it has always been understood by civilized society.

A wise man said that ‘the corruption of society begins by a failure to call things by their proper names.’ I refuse to ascribe marriage to homosexual unions based on the original and true meaning of marriage. That is why I use quotes to reference the misnomer of ‘gay marriage.’ I urge you to do the same.

2. ‘Gay Marriage’ devalues gender differences in human relating.

‘Gay marriage’ is founded on the premise that gender should no longer matter in sexual relationships. For example, licenses in states which have legalized ‘gay marriage’ have replaced the language of ‘Bride and Groom’ with ‘Partner 1 and Partner 2’.

‘Gay marriage’ removes the centerpiece of marriage: how one gender provokes and balances the opposite gender, creating (besides children) an emotional, spiritual, and sexual whole. Instead, ‘gay marriage’ redefines sexual wholeness as the freedom to desire and wed whomever one wants, regardless of gender. That undermines the inner logic of man for woman, and woman for man, and makes freedom from that logic optional for all.

3. ‘Gay Marriage’ devalues monogamy.

‘Gay marriage’ tweaks the meaning of fidelity. Gay men in particular tend toward tolerating multiple sexual partnerships in the context of a commitment to one partner. A marriage license will not change that tendency.

J. Michael Bailey, Chair of Psychology at Northwestern University and one of the foremost researchers in homosexuality, contends that “regardless of marital laws and policies, gay men will always have more sexual partners than straight people do. Those who are attached will be less monogamous.”

4. ‘Gay Marriage’ is founded on a false understanding of homosexuality.

California's ‘gay marriage’ decision was founded on a 1948 Court decision (Perez vs. Sharp) to strike down a state ban on interracial marriages. That means today’s Court tends to equate ethnicity with homosexuality. Bad reasoning. Unlike ethnicity, homosexuality is neither genetically-based nor immutable.

Same-sex attraction is a three-fold cord of nature, nurture, and culture, all bound together by one’s moral decisions. The fact is: many choose to change their homosexuality, and find peace and purpose in heterosexual relationships. ‘Gay marriage’ advocates refuse that truth and insist that homosexuality is destiny, which is a false understanding.

5. ‘Gay Marriage’ makes its opponents racists.

Based on #4, those who oppose gay marriage will be seen as bigots. ‘Gay marriage’ validates as normal and good the problematic, complex condition of same-sex attraction; all who choose to view that attraction as a problem not a birthright will inevitably be accorded the same social shame and even legal consequences that racists incur.

6. ‘Gay Marriage’ encourages and increases homosexual behavior.

Over the last 50 years, homosexual behavior has increased due to media advocacy, our culture of divorce, porn, and promiscuity, and the greater economic and emotional independence of women from men. Validating ‘gay marriage’ will further encourage men and women to explore homosexual unions.

Social shame used to inhibit homosexual experimentation; ‘gay marriage’ casts off the last restraint, and increases homosexual behavior in our society. Between 1995 and 2005, lesbian unions in the USA increased 7 times, while male unions doubled.

7. ‘Gay Marriage’ opens the door to other types of ‘marriage.’

In changing the meaning of marriage to include infidelity and gender sameness, ‘gay marriage’ sets a precedent for other types of units, like incest and polygamy. Legal cases involving polygamy now invoke the same legal precedents of gay rights advocates. What seemed unthinkable 10 years ago is now ‘gay marriage’ law. We flinch until we become sensitized, then we flinch no more.

8. ‘Gay Marriage’ unleashes a global legal nightmare.

‘Gay marriage’ will clog the courts with myriad issues. Already, married gay couples are demanding marriage rights wherever they settle, regardless of the current laws of that state or nation. Not to mention the hundreds of cases in the USA alone concerning a host of bewildering issues, like gay divorce and ownership of artificially inseminated offspring.

The profound needs and fragility of soul at the core of same-sex unions will make for messy and consuming court battles—all within an already beleaguered system that has no precedents for the legal Medusa that ‘gay marriage’ has created.

______________________________________________________________________________

Pray & Fast with staffs and participants of Desert Stream Ministries and with First Stone Ministries
Saturday October 17 through Wednesday November 25, 2009


We ask that each one joining us would ‘fast’ something of meaning for these forty days and pray instead.


Please set aside 30 minutes a day for this effort.


During the 40-days, we will employ the "Honoring Marriage for the Good of All"  daily devotional guide, —available at www.desertstream.org.
Andy Comiskey will also post key battles we are targeting for prayer, and provide a daily podcast.


For more information contact info [at] desertstream.org or visit our website at www.desertstream.org.

Pray with understanding. We can all bow down and ask God to honor His image. And we can grow in our understanding as to why upholding His image in marriage matters for all.


Restore the broken. Our prayers issue out of a commitment to making every effort possible to provide restoration for those who know they are broken.We can and must give practical helps to those seeking healing for their personal lives and marriages.


Appeal to the good of reason. One man pledged to one woman helps ensure the well-being of the children they create, while providing a witness of gender order and stability to children in our culture who are not blessed with a Mom and Dad at home.


Yield to the Lord. Having prayed, offered restoration, and appealed to reason, we surrender to God. We dare not fight this battle in our own mind and strength.We prayerfully join the One who created man and woman in His image, and who wills that all of creation benefit from that image.

______________________________________________________________________________

I would like to know if you have made this commitment, you can email me at: stephen [at] firststone.org