Push Back - Part Twelve

Joseph Herrin (08-26-2013)

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Every day there is a new onslaught of propaganda by the advocates of homosexual behavior. This morning the news headlines were hyping the performance of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at the Video Music Awards that were broadcast last night to tens of millions of viewers. The duo were nominated for six video awards, including Best Video with a Social Message for their song Same Love which they performed during the broadcast. The power of deception in this song is profound. Having Jennifer Hudson, a singer known for her Christian faith and good-girl persona, join them at the end of the performance was a triumph of wickedness. The song even includes scripture quotations to promote behavior that God abhors.

Following are two links. The first is for a video of the performance of the song at the VMA awards. The second is the official music video on YouTube that has more than 70 million views. The lyrics to Same Love are just below the video links.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/948771/same-love-live.jhtml#id=1712039

Get More:
2013 VMA, Artists.MTV, Music, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

http://youtu.be/hlVBg7_08n0



Same Love

When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay,
'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight.
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She's like "Ben you've loved girls since before pre-k, trippin' "
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn't she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, "Yeah, I'm good at little league"
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don't know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don't know

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
"Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we're saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that's not important
No freedom till we're equal, damn right I support it

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

We press play, don't press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking 'round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up... sex

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is patient
Love is kind
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
Love is kind

It should not surprise the Christian that Satan will quote Scripture to advocate behavior that is detestable to God. He did so when he tempted the Son of God in the wilderness. Yahshua never fell for these deceptions, but the same cannot be said for many Christians today. Christ answered Satan’s quotations of Scriptures with other words from the Bible that demonstrated that the behavior Satan was advocating was contrary to the will of God. This is a good tack for the disciples of Christ to take today. If a homosexual advocate tells you that love is patient and kind, suggesting that it is unloving to condemn homosexual behavior, you might remind them that in the same passage the apostle Paul also wrote “Love... does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth” (I Corinthians 13:6).

Furthermore, the Bible describes homosexuality as unrighteousness.

I Corinthians 6:9-10
Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals... shall inherit the kingdom of God.

All of these verses come from the same book in the New Testament that Macklemore and Lewis cite in their homosexual advocacy song, which Jennifer Hudson assisted in proclaiming at the VMA awards. All of these individuals are guilty of practicing deception to justify a behavior that God condemns. Yet, they have the temerity to say,

And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago

Here is a literal (non-paraphrased) rendering of the words of the Bible.

Leviticus 18:22
You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

The subtle message of the line I’m not crying on Sundays is a defiant proclamation that the person choosing the homosexual lifestyle will not be deterred, or disturbed, by the preaching of the Bible by people in church. Tragically, many will believe, and even sing along with, the words of this song, confessing that:

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to

Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Satan knows his craft well, and he is wrapping millions in chains of bondage that they cannot break. All the while he has fooled them into thinking that they are fighting for their “freedom.” In their spiritual blindness, they are actually fighting to remain prisoners of their sinful passions. Christ came to set men free: free from the shackles of sin - not freedom to sin.

I have not enjoyed writing this series, and I am eager to bring it to a close. Yet, there are things that needed to be expressed, and some things that must yet be set down, before I can conclude. I want to turn at this time to the spiritual significance of homosexuality. I believe that every sin of the flesh has a corresponding sin in the spiritual realm. The Bible reveals many of these parallel transgressions. Not surprisingly, sexual sins of the flesh are frequently linked to spiritual transgressions. Throughout the Bible we find that God relates spiritual idolatry to the physical sin of adultery.

Ezekiel 23:37
Thus they have committed adultery with their idols...

Ezekiel 16:30-32
“How languishing is your heart," declares the Yahweh God, "while you do all these things, the actions of a bold-faced harlot. When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every square, in disdaining money, you were not like a harlot. You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!”

Hosea 3:1
Then Yahweh said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods...”

We should not be surprised to find that sexual sins are symbolic of spiritual transgressions that pertain to the relationship between God and man. Yahweh has created this physical universe to reveal the hidden things of the spiritual realm. The relationship between a husband and wife, and the act of procreation that brings forth offspring, offer profound parables of the relationship between humanity and the Creator. The apostle Paul wrote of the divine mystery contained in the intimate union of a man and his wife.

Ephesians 5:25-33
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.

Paul declares that we are members of Christ’s body. Eve was formed from a remnant portion of Adam’s body that was removed while he slept. Adam declared, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Adam had to be cast into a deep sleep in order for Yahweh to remove a portion of his body to form the woman. Similarly, we find that the Son of God, the Last Adam, had to sleep in the dust of the earth in order for a bride to come forth. Christ surrendered His flesh and His blood in order to purchase a people for His own possession. He can now say, “This is flesh of My flesh, and bone of My bone.”

The book of Genesis reveals the origins of the sexual union, and the process of bringing forth offspring. After the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, Yahweh pronounced His judgment. This judgment is often referred to as “the curse,” but the word “curse” does not accurately describe God’s words. What He spoke was actually the salvation and hope of mankind. There would be a long season of toil, and the man and woman would both know pain and sorrow, but the ultimate end of their experiences would be life.

Genesis 3:16-19
To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Paul said the mystery of the man and the woman is great. In it is contained a revelation of the relationship between Christ and His church. As we look at the words above in light of the relationship between Christ and His church, some profound insight comes forth. The only way in which the church can bring forth mature sons is through pain. Suffering has become a necessary component of birthing spiritual offspring.

Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake...

I Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

Despite the fact that the church can only bring forth children through experiences of pain, she must still choose for Christ to rule over her. We find that there remains a remnant to this day whose desire is toward their heavenly Bridegroom. These ones choose for Yahshua to rule over them that He might obtain the sons that He desires. Yet, many eschew the pain and suffering. Many in the church do not share the Son of God’s desire to have mature sons in His image. Therefore, they eschew suffering, choosing pleasure without pain.

In the natural realm, there are various ways in which men and women choose the pleasure of sexual intimacy without the pain that is incurred in bringing forth offspring. Many women enjoy the pleasures of sexual intercourse and then abort the baby in their womb. This has occurred more than 50 million times in America in the last 40 years. More babies have been aborted in America than there are people in Canada, and more than twice the population of Australia.

Many women who do have babies are opting to escape the pain of childbirth by having medical procedures such as C-sections, or epidurals (spinal blocks). Science is only now coming to understand the changes that take place in a woman’s body as she undergoes the stress and pains of childbirth. There are chemicals produced, and an interchange with the baby, that effects its future growth and well-being. Babies who are born through natural childbirth are on average healthier, and even have a greater bond to the mother, than those born by C-section or with the use of pain drugs. As you read through the following, I invite you to be alert to the spiritual parallels within the church.

Natural childbirth, also known as un-medicated birth, has many hidden benefits that more women of childbearing age should be aware of. In our society, giving pain medication for labor is so normal that most doctors assume a laboring woman will want it, and most mothers-to-be expect it. In fact, depending upon the hospital and region, pain medication rates are as high as 90 percent, with the vast majority of women choosing an epidural.

Generally, if there is a way around it, most women try and avoid the pain. Why be a martyr and suffer needlessly they ask? And that is exactly how I used to think right up until I got pregnant with my son. I always assumed I would just get an epidural. Like other women, I was terrified of the pain and I never even considered delivering naturally until a friend, who had given birth naturally, began listing its virtues.

Despite being in the natural health field, I had not really heard much discussion regarding the benefits of avoiding medication during labor. In retrospect, I should have made the connection since an epidural is a drug, and most drugs have side effects. However, the fear of labor pain was simply too strong to allow me to entertain any other thoughts. Yet, when I started to do some research on my own, which included reading books on midwifery and talking to women who had chosen natural childbirth, I started to realize there was another side to the story.

Due to the medical institutionalization of birth in North America, most women forget birthing is a natural experience that, in most cases, does not need medical intervention. Women have been delivering babies naturally for millennia. It is what our bodies were designed to do. Of course the reality that pain is involved in the process cannot be ignored. For this reason, the vast majority of women choose pain medication...

Let’s look at the main reasons many women choose to have a natural childbirth.

Labor is Often Shorter

Epidurals and other pain relieving medications often lead to a slower delivery. Pain medications often interfere with the body’s natural way of laboring and can slow down contractions. This increases total laboring periods. In addition, women often do not feel their contractions and do not know when to push. By not pushing at key times, or with adequate strength, they are not able to facilitate the laboring process. They miss important opportunities to work with the rhythms of their bodies.

Epidurals Often Increase Use of Medical Interventions

Because epidurals disconnect women from the natural pushing action and prolong labor, doctors are prone to intervene in the slowed birthing process and may give a pitocin drip (a uterine stimulant) or use a vacuum or forceps to move the fetus through the birth canal. In addition, fetal monitoring may be necessary to study the fetus’s heart rate. This usually requires an instrument to be attached to the baby’s scalp. If there are issues related to the heart beat or other complications, a Cesarean-section may be done.

Although epidural use doesn’t always cause these complications, it does increase the likelihood that interventions will be used.

Breastfeeding is Facilitated

Research shows babies born through natural childbirth are more alert and show more interest in breastfeeding once delivered. Many women don’t realize the pain medication they receive is also passed on to their baby. Because of this, many babies are born slightly “drugged” from the pain medication. This can interfere with their innate suckling behavior that normally expresses itself shortly after birth. It is not unusual for babies, exposed to an epidural, to have difficulty with latching on and an uncoordinated suck/swallow response for hours, or even days.

When videotaped studies of newborn babies have been done, there has been a marked difference between those born to mothers who received pain medication and those who didn’t. The fact that neither mom, nor baby, is medicated means natural instincts can emerge and the bonding that normally manifests between a mother and her baby can take place.

Natural Childbirth is Often Healthier for Mom and Baby

Because an epidural slows down labor, a woman is much more likely to be given a pitocin drip (uterine stimulant) to speed up contractions. The resulting contractions begin to come on so strong and fast that a woman has very little time to recover between them, leaving less oxygen to reach the fetus. This could damage the fetus’s brain cells and possibly lead to neurological problems.

Epidurals in birthing women also increase the chance of fever which increases the likelihood antibiotics will be prescribed.

Faster Recovery Time

Women who planned natural childbirths often feel great for a short while after delivering their babies. Because no numbing drugs were used, and no tubes or needles were stuck into their body parts, naturally birthing moms can get up shortly after labor if they desire, and walk around or take a shower.

The euphoric feeling in which many naturally birthing moms experience is caused by the release of endorphins in the body during labor. Endorphins are calming and pain-relieving hormones the body naturally produces when dealing with pain. Tests have shown a woman’s body will not release nearly as many endorphins if a pain medication is utilized.
[Source: http://naturallysavvy.com/Nest/the-benefits-of-natural-childbirth]

Like women in America, more than 90% of the church is seeking to avoid the necessary pain that accompanies the birthing of new life. Whether the life is a newborn baby, or a spiritual son or daughter of God, pain is both normal and necessary. The avoidance of pain ALWAYS results in negative consequences. One consequence is that the delivery takes longer. The mother, by choosing to ease her own discomfort and pain, actually prolongs the time that the baby within her womb must struggle through the process of birth. There is certainly a spiritual parable here. It takes much longer to produce spiritual offspring in the image of Christ when pain is avoided.

A second consequence is that unnatural medical procedures are often called upon to facilitate the birth process. In the spiritual realm the doctors are often the ministers. Even as the use of forceps, or pitocin drips, can result in harm to the baby, so too do the efforts of ministers who seek to bring forth offspring without the church having to suffer.

A third consequence is difficulty in breastfeeding. Like babies born to mothers who took pain drugs, many new Christians are born “dazed,” not fully alert. They are disoriented, and have trouble finding their way spiritually in life. They may lack a healthy appetite for the life sustaining milk of the word of God. They may look for sustenance in inferior manmade sources even as many parents supply their newborns with infant formula rather than the mother’s breast milk.

Will not a spiritual child that is birthed in pain have a greater love for the church who labored to bring it forth? Will there not be a greater affinity between the new convert and the church who laid down their life, and embraced suffering, to secure its new birth? When the church avoids the pain of the cross it also lessens the bond of love between members.

One of the primary losses to the church when it seeks to avoid suffering, is that it cheats itself out of the “euphoria” that results after one has passed through a difficult trial. The Scriptures state that “for the joy (euphoria) set before Him, Christ endured the cross.” There is great joy that results, both in this age, and in the ages to come, for those who have endured suffering in obedience to Christ. Those who strive to avoid this suffering are casting away an immense joy that far surpasses the pain of these momentary and light afflictions.

I found it interesting that the article above contained the following line:

Why be a martyr and suffer needlessly they ask?

The word “martyr” is a Biblical one. Those who are called to be disciples of Christ are called “martyrs.”

Acts 1:8
“And you shall be My witnesses [Greek - martus, martyrs] both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Yahweh told the woman that bringing forth new life would be accompanied by pain. Can a woman cheat God and there be no consequences? There are always consequences to our decisions. In relation to natural birth and its associated pains, more consequences are being discovered all the time. The following quotation reveals a couple more benefits of natural childbirth.

Experts generally agree that most healthy, risk-free women should deliver their babies vaginally rather than by cesarean section, as it has benefits for both the mother and baby, like shorter hospital stays and fewer infant respiratory problems.

Now, Yale researchers said they've found another potential benefit of vaginal birth, claiming it triggers the production of a protein in babies' brains that may improve brain development.

Giving birth via c-section, on the other hand, may impair its expression...

Other recent studies on the impact of different birthing methods have focused on immune system function.

A 2010 study in the journal PNAS suggested that as babies travel through the vagina during birth, they may pick up certain bacteria that could help protect them from future diseases.
[Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/natural-birth-protein_n_1756911.html]

With these words I am seeking to establish in the reader’s mind the significant parallels between this natural creation and the spiritual realm. Yahweh has designed the entire male/female relationship and reproductive process to show forth profound spiritual truths.

Men and women in the church show little differentiation from those in the world. A pleasure seeking, pain eschewing people are demonstrating physically what is occurring unseen in realms of the spirit. Abortion, adultery, homosexuality, all have their parallels in the spirit. In the next post, I will begin to examine the spiritual significance of homosexual behavior and what it reveals about the church today.


Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063