A review of LGBTQ Doctrines

A Time for Agape Playlist – LGBT Doctrines (multi-show)

Playlist for Entire Series

Watch Live Friday’s at 4:00 PM

Episode 1 Starting Out – Our Beliefs and Language

Episode 2 Understanding Doctrines

Episode 3 Side B Part 1

Episode 4 Side B Part 2

Episode 5 Side B Part 3

Episode 6 Side B Part 4

Episode 7 – Sanctification

Episode 8 – Transformation Part 1

Episode 9 – Guest Andrew Rodriguez (PsycoBible) – Exposing “Conversion Therapy” myths

Episode 10 – Moving towards love

Episode 11 – The Devasting Impact of Side B Gay Christianity – Calling MN Leaders to Repent

Differing Views – 4 Columns of LGBT Doctrines (PDF)

The document was created by Portland Fellowship and is a very useful discussion guide to quickly explain the doctrines found in the LGBTQ space.

Agape First Ministries has a breakout session as part of Freedom United to go into this in depth.

This is a useful reference and teaching aid, the four columns document helps us quickly reflect on the main doctrines around LGBTQ issues. Side A/Side B Progressive Gay Christianity? Resist temptation for life, or heart and mind transformation? Is there change of desire in Jesus resulting in no more desire for sodomy? Yes, Jesus Transforms.

Research – 39% of GenZ Identify as LGBTQ


Barna research shows 39% of GenZ self identified as LGBTQ in 2021.

https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/George-Barna-Millennial-Report-2021-FINAL-Web.pdf

George-Barna-Millennial-Report-2021-FINAL-WebDownload

Agape First Ministries will help the church understand how to bring people who identify as LGBTQ to repentance and into the church as disciples of Jesus. We will help the church wield the hope for transformation we have in Jesus with faithfulness to scripture and the promises of being made like Christ. We have a challenge before us that we can overcome with love and truth.

Additionally, we found this report which speaks to the worldview of Pastors today. I think these go hand and hand to explain how we’ve arrived at 39% of Gen Z identifying as LGBTQ. The doctrines being taught make room for that.

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AWVI2022_Release05_Digital_220625_122206-1Download

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Do you ever wonder?

I was reading in Judges 10 this A.M. Israel had prostituted herself to other gods again, Israel cried out and God said, the heck with you Luca translation. He said I will deliver you no more.”ouch! Then down in verse 16 something amazing happens.

Judges 10:16 “Then they removed the foreign gods from among them, and worshiped Adonai. So His soul could not bear the misery of Israel.”

What the heck?! Unpack that one if you will.His SOUL??? HE was moved by the cries of their heart!!!

Repentance is a POWERFUL WEAPON, it’s not just lip service, it takes action, they removed the foreign gods….And, worshipped Him. God was moved, from their position of DESPERATION!! MY LORD 

What if repentance isn’t just feeling remorse in your heart, what if it looks more like how Jesus lived His life. We know repentance in Greek is Metaneo (proounced Met-an-o-eh-o) which IS A VERB!!! and means to change the inner man- particularly with refrence to acceptance of the will of God-REPENT

Helpful word studies # 3340 and 3326 “Meta” changed after being with! or # 3359 Noieo think differently after changing mind. Those are a few concordance refrences.

So back to the scripture, it said, “So  His soul could not bear the misery of Israel” WHat does that sound like to you? It sounds like Israel hit that spot again, where they felt all good and comfy again “Yeah God I got this now” mmm hmmm, alright, let me know how that works out saith the Lord. LOL

How many times we been there? Are we there right now as a nation? All the nations? Perhaps it’s in the suffering scripture talks about that gets our hearts to cry out to the Lord, perhaps desperation is a good place to be? Do I want to? No, it terrifies me a bit to think of, and, I know that seems to be a place where God shows Himself glorious. 

The part that gets me in that scriptre is it says “His soul could not bare” His soul? GOD HAS A SOUL? How many times in scripture do we read “Jesus was moved by compassion”? Many to tell you the truth, He responds compassionately, when He sees people in need, and I don’t mean in need like “I need a Snickers” although now that i mention it, I think I do need one. LOL

The needs of humanity, we NEED God, and needing Him keeps us connected to the vine, and we are His branches.

God bless you. Would love to hear from you in the reply section below. See it, it’s right down there. I like chattin back and forth, Ill respond to you if you text, you can also email me. 

If you wish to have me speak at your event, church, small group or even a picnic, reach out.

Last but not least, I am a missionary who lives on the blessings of others, if you feel compelled, please consider a love offering. 

God bless you

Luca

 

Lazarus – Come Out!

Rev. Daren Mehl shares a message about loving people coming out of LGBTQ. Jesus calls them out of the tomb, and we get to participate and obey Jesus by removing the death cloths and washing the person and helping to disciple them in the body of believers. And yet, some will see what Jesus did, and what we are doing, and go to the Pharisees. But don’t mind them.

Reverend Daren Mehl is Associate Director of Agape First Ministries. He is a missionary in the United States working to make the name of Jesus famous, to disciple the nations in the transformative power of Jesus. To support Daren, please visit his page at https://www.agapefirstministries.org/darenmehl

Immanuel Lifestyle Overview

Joy. What is it?

Have you ever experienced it?

Is it the same as happiness?

Is it possible to have joy in the midst of difficult circumstances?

How do you get joy?

How do you keep joy?

What does joy feel like?

These are all really good questions. Joy, according to the Dictionary of Psychology, is a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exaltation of the spirit, arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction; or a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. It would seem that joy is the same as happiness, but more intense. If that is true, it would be very hard to have joy in the midst of difficult circumstances, because who is happy with adversity? Getting joy would seem to be getting a lifestyle without conflict, and keeping joy would seem only possible when you maintain a lifestyle without conflict. One dictionary says it is a feeling of extreme happiness or cheerfulness, especially related to the acquisition or expectation of something good, like a child on Christmas morning.

In the book “Building Bounce,” one of the authors wrote, ”Life is hard. We all get overwhelmed at times. But some people seem to be able to handle hardship better than others…Thanks to the latest brain science, we now understand that there is a secret to emotional resilience. It is joy. The more joy you have, the more hardship you can handle.”  Dr. Wilder explains joy as, ”someone is glad to be with me.” We recognize this joy visually in the emotional (or right side) of our brain before we recognize it in the left side (or cognitive side) of the brain. How do we recognize it? Visually, by seeing someone’s smile, or the light in their eyes when they see us.

Joy is relational. The more healthy, strong, and safe the relationships we have, the more joy we will experience. The Bible declares again and again that the joy of the Lord is our Strength; He gives strength to the weak and power to the powerless; He is able to make us strong and steadfast; He is our joy. The Bible also talks repeatedly about how God makes His face to shine upon us. He connects with us emotionally. He smiles on us. He is glad to be with us.

Our brains have “circuits” that guide our relational connections with God and others. These circuits are formed and changed in relationships, and so they are called “Relational Circuits.” Relational Connection Joy (or Connection) is the experience of being in an attuned relational engagement with God, oneself, or another person, AND perceiving that they are glad to be with you.

Attunement is an especially important form of interpersonal, emotional connection that feels like “we are on the same page”–we feel seen and heard; someone correctly understands our internal experience, and joins us in the emotions we are experiencing. Someone genuinely cares about us and is glad to be with us.

Our minds and brains have been designed to live in a relational world where everything is in shalom; where everything is in the right relationship, at the right time, in the right place, at the right strength, and in the right amount for God and people. At the center of this shalom is our brain’s relational circuits. If we lose our peace, particularly in relationships, these relational circuits can start to shut down. With our vital relational circuits partly or deeply off, problems get bigger, and we can start to  treat people like objects. Our cravings become monsters, and we can deeply hurt those we love. We feel alone, disconnected, and purposeless.

The easiest way to know if your relational circuits (or RC’s) are on or off is to ask yourself a few questions:

  • Is the problem bigger than the person?
  • Do I really want to listen to what they are feeling or saying?
  • Is my mind “locked onto” something upsetting?
  • Do I just want to get away, fight, or freeze?
  • Am I more aggressively interrogating, judging or trying to fix others?
  • Do I even want to be connected with someone I usually like?

We can turn our relational circuits back on and regain shalom by deliberately focusing on appreciation/gratitude or having someone else “tune in” to us and how we’re feeling.

The Immanuel Lifestyle is a process that helps us to grow our emotional capacity to withstand adversity by helping us to grow our relational strengths. How do we do that? By helping to increase each person’s capacity to have an interactive relationship with God. It is this experiential connection with God that is the foundation for deep and lasting spiritual growth and maturity; for healing from painful experiences and life events; and for developing relationships with others and unity in the Body of Christ.

We use:

  • Knowledge-based teaching that is informed by an understanding of the brain
  • Experiential exercises to discover how relational connection occurs with God and others
  • Specific explanations and skills to intentionally increase understanding of and capacity for relational connection
  • Practical examples, demonstrations, and reflection on Immanuel as a lifestyle, with the foundation laid for Immanuel as an intervention & Immanuel as a prayer ministry.

 Immanuel Prayer offers a process that is very useful to help people connect to the Lord in a prayer ministry session. It is a process of connection personally and interactively with the Lord, and removing barriers and hindrances to an intimate, interactive lifestyle of connection with Him. The goal is to build and deepen a securely attached relationship with the Lord, one that increases our capacity to stay connected to Him even in difficult life situations or painful experiences.

Connecting with God in Hessed Community

Hessed is the Hebrew word for Agape, God’s love, our namesake. We believe that joy is found in Hessed connection with God and our Christian community.

How do we walk with each other in a hessed community that fully engages with God? The most practical answer is connection with Him in praise, worship, prayer, and intercession that keeps going back to hessed. A deeper look at the center of God’s holiness is His mercy seat. The center of manifestive presence is loving kindness, a place where forgiveness flows; but there were also the tablets containing the 10 Commandments. The fellowship of believers dwelling in hessed is identically modeled: a place of love; but also purity. This mercy is not just functionally the way we treat each other’s weaknesses; but it is who we are aspiring to be by walking out the life He has called us to—holiness! 

Holiness was made possible by one Man (who is forever God) coming and fulfilling the Law by being sinless (perfect in keeping the righteous requirement) but also taking our punishment (for our disobedience to that Law). In light of Jesus’ hessed, our own righteousness would still be filthy rags. Even a strong attempt to “keep or perform” the Law would still pale in comparison. So, what does the Lord require, especially in the light of hessed?

A proper way of understanding the Law hebraically would be to actually “guard” the Law. I guard the Word of God by loving what it says, agreeing quickly with its truth (even if I have disobeyed); and I begin to see that abiding in His word has made me free of my bondage. I now guard that truth by continuing to abide in deep relationship with Him…(His name is The Word of God).

As Jesus was in the garden praying with His disciples, He admonished them to be on guard — “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Jesus’ prescription to temptation is to be on the guard. What a beautiful way to guard His ways He has fulfilled for us, that we would be free to follow Him fully!

We are also told to “Keep (guard) your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The reality of not sinning isn’t to just do more good things. Psalm 119:11 tells us, “Your word I have hidden (guarded) in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” The Scriptures are clear that guarding the places His Word/Law dwell is of utmost importance.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace (Shalom) of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). This is how hessed works when engaged with our Abba who created us! We guard the way He has asked us to walk in, and He meets us with grace to overcome.