Love, lust, Hollywood, God, and you, 00:00:09.57\00:00:14.12 that's our topic next on Coming Out. 00:00:14.15\00:00:16.63 Welcome to part five of Coming Out. 00:00:59.65\00:01:02.13 I'm here with Pastor Ron Woolsey and Wayne Blakely, 00:01:02.16\00:01:06.61 two of the cofounders of Coming Out ministries. 00:01:06.64\00:01:09.66 We have been discussing a variety of issues. 00:01:09.69\00:01:12.25 It's no secret that letters and it's a little, 00:01:12.28\00:01:15.51 I guess it's an acronym or it's a sequence of letters 00:01:15.54\00:01:18.37 LGBTQ are being read around the world. 00:01:18.40\00:01:24.40 You can see them on the internet, 00:01:24.43\00:01:25.95 people read them in textbooks, 00:01:25.98\00:01:28.10 they're being discussed in the media, 00:01:28.13\00:01:30.24 in books, novels, talk shows. 00:01:30.27\00:01:33.51 These letters mean L stands for lesbian, 00:01:33.54\00:01:37.27 G stands for gay, B is bisexual, 00:01:37.30\00:01:40.68 T is transgender, and Q is questioning. 00:01:40.71\00:01:45.17 A lot of people are questioning these days 00:01:45.20\00:01:47.02 and at the heart of this controversy, 00:01:47.05\00:01:50.63 at least one of the biggest issues 00:01:50.66\00:01:51.98 of all concerning the appropriateness 00:01:52.01\00:01:54.49 or inappropriateness or what's right 00:01:54.52\00:01:56.74 and what's wrong with these kind of activities 00:01:56.77\00:02:00.21 and movements is the issue of love. 00:02:00.24\00:02:02.74 The title of our program today is called "I Love You?" 00:02:02.77\00:02:07.71 And we're here to discuss what love is about, 00:02:07.74\00:02:10.48 the nature of love, 00:02:10.51\00:02:11.96 some of the controversies surrounding love 00:02:11.99\00:02:14.10 and what really is true love, based upon an ancient book 00:02:14.13\00:02:19.04 which we believe in, which is the Bible. 00:02:19.07\00:02:22.25 Gentlemen, again thank you for being here. 00:02:22.28\00:02:25.85 Thank you. This has been great so far. 00:02:25.88\00:02:26.92 I've just appreciated your stories, 00:02:26.95\00:02:28.57 you've been telling me your stories, 00:02:28.60\00:02:30.49 and now we want to talk about love. 00:02:30.52\00:02:33.50 Love is a word that's tossed around a lot. 00:02:33.53\00:02:37.02 I'm married and I love my wife, I love my children. 00:02:37.05\00:02:40.20 I also love to go running. 00:02:40.23\00:02:43.19 One of our camera operators 00:02:43.22\00:02:44.72 who's listening to this just said a little bit ago, 00:02:44.75\00:02:47.49 "I overheard her say that she loves her hair". 00:02:47.52\00:02:50.42 I'm assuming that it was a good hair day for her. 00:02:50.45\00:02:53.38 You know, people love chocolate. 00:02:53.41\00:02:55.13 We use the word love all kinds of ways. 00:02:55.16\00:02:58.91 But we really need to understand, 00:02:58.94\00:03:00.86 at least according to the Bible 00:03:00.89\00:03:02.54 what love is really all about, don't you agree? 00:03:02.57\00:03:05.24 Yes. 00:03:05.27\00:03:06.69 And, Pastor Ron, you told me just today, earlier today 00:03:06.72\00:03:10.72 that during the time when you were, 00:03:10.75\00:03:12.95 after you had come out of the closet 00:03:12.98\00:03:14.85 and had gone into a openly 00:03:14.88\00:03:18.19 homosexual relationship with a man, 00:03:18.22\00:03:20.78 you told me honestly that you love that man. 00:03:20.81\00:03:27.05 So I want you just to tell me, 00:03:27.08\00:03:28.88 you know, clarify that for me, you know. 00:03:28.91\00:03:31.20 Some people would say, well, that couldn't be real love. 00:03:31.23\00:03:35.13 But, you know, could it be real love? 00:03:35.16\00:03:37.18 Well, sure it can be real love. 00:03:37.21\00:03:38.67 Actually during my time in the gay life 00:03:38.70\00:03:40.74 I had three lifetime relationships. 00:03:40.77\00:03:44.52 Okay, three lifetime. 00:03:44.55\00:03:45.74 That's right, three lifetime relationships 00:03:45.77\00:03:47.60 and I loved each one of them, you know. 00:03:47.63\00:03:50.36 I mean, that was my ultimate love experience temporarily. 00:03:50.39\00:03:54.97 In the last situation 00:03:55.00\00:03:57.89 we were very much in love with each other 00:03:57.92\00:04:00.25 and we were emotionally bonded, we were physically bonded. 00:04:00.28\00:04:05.52 The element that was missing of course was the spiritual. 00:04:05.55\00:04:09.00 And as I began searching and studying God's word 00:04:09.03\00:04:12.32 and the spirituality began developing within me, 00:04:12.35\00:04:15.74 that created a void between us in a way 00:04:15.77\00:04:19.95 because he was not and I was 00:04:19.98\00:04:23.05 and I learned to love Jesus more. 00:04:23.08\00:04:25.99 And that's what pulled me out of that relationship, 00:04:26.02\00:04:28.63 but even then, Steve, in ending that relationship, 00:04:28.66\00:04:32.64 it was an extremely traumatic experience 00:04:32.67\00:04:35.98 because we dearly loved each other. 00:04:36.01\00:04:37.92 I mean, it was true love, but it was misplaced. 00:04:37.95\00:04:42.07 We were loving the wrong people. 00:04:42.10\00:04:44.35 We were not in harmony with God's will. 00:04:44.38\00:04:46.67 I think this is what Satan does. 00:04:46.70\00:04:48.19 He takes something beautiful 00:04:48.22\00:04:50.03 and he attaches it to something that is wrong, 00:04:50.06\00:04:52.84 and he uses something God created in the wrong way 00:04:52.87\00:04:57.06 to bring great unhappiness and sadness and trauma. 00:04:57.09\00:05:00.66 And that's what happened in my situation. 00:05:00.69\00:05:03.84 And that story is in your book, the book that you've written. 00:05:03.87\00:05:07.06 Yes, and that's one reason 00:05:07.09\00:05:08.32 that this young man just went berserk 00:05:08.35\00:05:10.56 when we were going through our separation 00:05:10.59\00:05:12.70 because we loved each other so much. 00:05:12.73\00:05:15.07 And he felt he was being totally abandoned. 00:05:15.10\00:05:17.82 And he-- It was as if he was possessed by seven demons, 00:05:17.85\00:05:22.29 and he attacked me and almost killed me in the process. 00:05:22.32\00:05:24.98 It doesn't sound like love. 00:05:25.01\00:05:27.11 I mean, he was desperate. He did not want to let go. 00:05:27.14\00:05:31.31 And, Wayne, speaking of desperate 00:05:31.34\00:05:33.52 and speaking of love, 00:05:33.55\00:05:34.95 share what you told me earlier, your quest for love. 00:05:34.98\00:05:39.40 Right. 00:05:39.43\00:05:40.46 Well, I was rejected by both birth parents. 00:05:40.49\00:05:44.19 And so early on I was really floundering 00:05:44.22\00:05:47.53 and not knowing what love really meant. 00:05:47.56\00:05:50.36 And everyone wants to matter, 00:05:50.39\00:05:53.30 they want to belong, they want to be loved. 00:05:53.33\00:05:56.01 And so I began a search 00:05:56.04\00:05:57.72 and I began to find that physical connection 00:05:57.75\00:06:02.23 was what I was beginning to interpret as love. 00:06:02.26\00:06:04.68 It was very emotional. 00:06:04.71\00:06:06.20 So I thought that if I was engaging 00:06:06.23\00:06:09.40 in physical affection or in sex with someone 00:06:09.43\00:06:12.51 that it translated to mean love. 00:06:12.54\00:06:14.56 But of course as the world largely knows 00:06:14.59\00:06:17.52 that you can be taken for granted, 00:06:17.55\00:06:21.04 you can be rejected, 00:06:21.07\00:06:22.64 you know, as soon as the act is actually even over, 00:06:22.67\00:06:25.24 you've actually been used not loved. 00:06:25.27\00:06:28.62 So I arrived with a great confusion, 00:06:28.65\00:06:32.05 I didn't understand the love of God. 00:06:32.08\00:06:34.58 I read about it, but I hadn't made it 00:06:34.61\00:06:37.13 a practical application to my life. 00:06:37.16\00:06:39.65 So for years and years 00:06:39.68\00:06:41.39 I kept looking for love in the wrong places, 00:06:41.42\00:06:45.03 and till I met Jesus Christ one day who proposed to me 00:06:45.06\00:06:49.12 that I needed to get to know Him. 00:06:49.15\00:06:50.75 Well, it sounds like a marriage relationship, 00:06:50.78\00:06:52.42 He proposed to you. Yeah, absolutely. 00:06:52.45\00:06:55.21 And just to clarify I'm sure that, 00:06:55.24\00:06:57.26 you know, these issues searching for love, 00:06:57.29\00:06:59.71 wanting love, misplaced love, 00:06:59.74\00:07:02.14 this doesn't only apply to the gay, 00:07:02.17\00:07:05.13 lesbian, transgender community. 00:07:05.16\00:07:07.37 This applies to all of us, how many people are out there 00:07:07.40\00:07:11.32 that are looking for love in the wrong place. 00:07:11.35\00:07:14.53 And, you know, we can get confused 00:07:14.56\00:07:17.85 about the nature of love, 00:07:17.88\00:07:20.12 we can experience lust and we can call it love. 00:07:20.15\00:07:25.13 We're just-- I think we're just pretty 00:07:25.16\00:07:27.08 messed up down here in this fallen world. 00:07:27.11\00:07:29.51 We're all confused, and we need some clarity. 00:07:29.54\00:07:32.68 And the good news is that there is clarity in this book, 00:07:32.71\00:07:36.78 in this ancient book. 00:07:36.81\00:07:37.88 This is the basis of everything that we're doing here. 00:07:37.91\00:07:39.84 We're not ashamed of that. That's right. 00:07:39.87\00:07:41.38 That we believe in the Bible 00:07:41.41\00:07:42.49 and we believe the Bible is a good book. 00:07:42.52\00:07:46.23 Absolutely. It is a clarifying book. 00:07:46.26\00:07:48.44 It is a book that will help us 00:07:48.47\00:07:51.12 in the struggles that we are in, 00:07:51.15\00:07:53.72 and ultimately it will help us to get to a wonderful place 00:07:53.75\00:07:58.26 which is where we all want to ultimately go. 00:07:58.29\00:08:00.20 Yeah. This is life sustaining. 00:08:00.24\00:08:01.58 That's right, that's right. 00:08:01.61\00:08:03.20 It's like an umbilical cord for, 00:08:03.23\00:08:05.55 you know, a fetus getting that life from the mother. 00:08:05.58\00:08:09.27 This is really like an umbilical cord 00:08:09.30\00:08:12.69 giving us life and information from God. 00:08:12.72\00:08:15.87 Now let's talk about God and love. 00:08:15.90\00:08:18.88 Wayne, I think you had a text you wanted to share with us. 00:08:18.91\00:08:20.36 Yeah, I think 1 John 4:8 tells us that 00:08:20.39\00:08:24.60 "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 00:08:24.63\00:08:29.92 So I think again right here it shows us 00:08:29.95\00:08:34.14 the definition of love needs to come from God, 00:08:34.17\00:08:37.33 from our creator. 00:08:37.36\00:08:38.65 If we're not spending the time here 00:08:38.68\00:08:40.66 to find out what that definition is, 00:08:40.69\00:08:43.82 then the enemy quickly comes about 00:08:43.85\00:08:45.86 trying to twist on God's original plan. 00:08:45.89\00:08:48.42 Yeah, in our last program 00:08:48.45\00:08:49.51 we talked about the owner's manual. 00:08:49.54\00:08:51.26 And now we'll shift to 00:08:51.29\00:08:52.37 what does the owner's manual from God 00:08:52.40\00:08:54.23 tell us about love, about this big issue. 00:08:54.26\00:08:57.65 So if somebody's listening to this 00:08:57.68\00:08:59.94 and hearing this verse, "God is love," 00:08:59.97\00:09:04.42 what does that mean? 00:09:04.45\00:09:05.48 What kind of love? 00:09:05.51\00:09:07.76 You know, a lot of people hate God. 00:09:07.79\00:09:09.41 They don't think He loves them at all. 00:09:09.44\00:09:10.66 They think that He just-- 00:09:10.69\00:09:12.15 He doesn't like what they're doing. 00:09:12.18\00:09:14.17 Maybe they've had a skewed perception of Him 00:09:14.20\00:09:16.12 as they were growing up. 00:09:16.15\00:09:17.43 They just think there's-- if there is anybody up there, 00:09:17.46\00:09:19.51 He's probably just a big meaning in the sky 00:09:19.54\00:09:21.69 who just-- He doesn't love me, 00:09:21.72\00:09:23.36 He just wants to point out my faults. 00:09:23.39\00:09:26.35 You know, how do we understand this verse 00:09:26.38\00:09:28.44 that says that God is love? 00:09:28.47\00:09:31.14 I think often people misconstrue love and feelings. 00:09:31.17\00:09:35.92 So if your feelings don't confirm 00:09:35.95\00:09:39.33 what you expect to be love, 00:09:39.36\00:09:40.56 then you don't consider it to be love. 00:09:40.59\00:09:42.33 But God is a disciplinary God as well. 00:09:42.36\00:09:44.93 So while it may not always feel good, 00:09:44.96\00:09:47.67 God is looking out for us 00:09:47.70\00:09:48.89 if we put our trust and our faith in Him. 00:09:48.92\00:09:51.30 And if we look at the life of Jesus Himself, 00:09:51.33\00:09:55.11 Jesus in His life, 00:09:55.14\00:09:56.50 He gives us the definition and the clarification. 00:09:56.53\00:09:59.77 I think of this text when He says 00:09:59.80\00:10:01.97 if You've seen the Father, you've seen Me, 00:10:02.00\00:10:03.82 and we read that God is love. 00:10:03.85\00:10:05.59 And that may seem kind of nebulous to us, 00:10:05.62\00:10:08.52 but if we look at the life of Jesus, 00:10:08.55\00:10:10.26 His whole life spelled out what that text means. 00:10:10.29\00:10:12.81 Is it safe to say that love, that real love, 00:10:12.84\00:10:15.83 that God's love is multifaceted? 00:10:15.86\00:10:19.56 That it has different dimensions? 00:10:19.59\00:10:21.74 I know from my reading of the Bible, 00:10:21.77\00:10:23.53 it tells me that God is a just God. 00:10:23.56\00:10:26.71 He's love, He's just, He's also extremely merciful. 00:10:26.74\00:10:31.92 He's a merciful God 00:10:31.95\00:10:33.56 so He has all of these different qualities. 00:10:33.59\00:10:36.39 And as I look at it, really the core of His being is love 00:10:36.42\00:10:40.58 and that His justice which tells us 00:10:40.61\00:10:43.46 what's right and wrong and His decision 00:10:43.49\00:10:46.14 that He's actually going to He's gonna punish sin someday. 00:10:46.17\00:10:50.14 And His mercy that He doesn't want that happen to us, 00:10:50.17\00:10:53.51 that He wants us to come to Him 00:10:53.54\00:10:56.99 and avoid the inevitable if we stay in sin. 00:10:57.02\00:11:01.02 That both His justice and His mercy 00:11:01.05\00:11:03.59 are manifestations of His heart of love. 00:11:03.62\00:11:07.34 Could I touch on the word mercy for just a second? 00:11:07.37\00:11:09.75 Sure. 00:11:09.78\00:11:10.81 God has always been merciful, but until the fall of man, 00:11:10.84\00:11:15.36 the universe never saw that dimension of His love. 00:11:15.39\00:11:19.34 And through us, through people who are redeemed, 00:11:19.37\00:11:22.04 the universe is seeing a dimension of God's love 00:11:22.07\00:11:25.24 that they would never have seen otherwise. 00:11:25.27\00:11:27.40 To me that's an amazing thing. 00:11:27.43\00:11:28.80 His mercy is a part of His character and His love, 00:11:28.83\00:11:31.61 but it was never seen until someone like 00:11:31.64\00:11:34.41 Wayne and Ron and Mike come along 00:11:34.44\00:11:36.68 and then the universe goes-- 00:11:36.71\00:11:37.80 And Steve. Wow! 00:11:37.83\00:11:39.47 Well, yeah, maybe even Steve. You know, they go, "Wow!" 00:11:39.50\00:11:43.27 We got different temptations, but sin is sin. 00:11:43.30\00:11:44.55 God, that's what mercy is, that's what love is. 00:11:44.58\00:11:48.55 While you touched on mercy, 00:11:48.58\00:11:49.95 I'd like to touch on grace because when we look at love, 00:11:49.98\00:11:54.28 we look at all three of these coming into play. 00:11:54.31\00:11:57.21 And often people will say, well, God's grace, 00:11:57.24\00:11:59.72 you know, has covered you. 00:11:59.75\00:12:01.21 And, yeah, God's grace-- love is not cheap. 00:12:01.24\00:12:05.27 God shed His blood for us. 00:12:05.30\00:12:07.76 He spent His life here 00:12:07.79\00:12:09.16 to give us the definition of love. 00:12:09.19\00:12:10.95 So while He covers us with grace, 00:12:10.98\00:12:13.62 it's not for us to ever think 00:12:13.65\00:12:15.01 that we can be presumptuous and continue in sin. 00:12:15.04\00:12:18.40 Now let's talk about what the Bible says about love, 00:12:18.43\00:12:21.94 true love and discipline. 00:12:21.97\00:12:24.18 That's a word that, you know, many times love and discipline 00:12:24.21\00:12:27.43 don't seem to go together like oil and water. 00:12:27.46\00:12:30.12 But they do go together in the Bible. 00:12:30.15\00:12:33.08 So share with us some scriptures about that. 00:12:33.11\00:12:38.97 Wayne, I think you have Revelation 3? 00:12:39.00\00:12:40.13 Yeah, I do. 00:12:40.16\00:12:41.31 Revelation 3:19 says to us, 00:12:41.34\00:12:46.90 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, 00:12:46.93\00:12:50.75 therefore be zealous, and repent." 00:12:50.78\00:12:54.81 So it gives clarity to me 00:12:54.84\00:12:57.03 that God put His law in place as guardrails for me. 00:12:57.06\00:13:01.45 He loved me so much 00:13:01.48\00:13:02.51 that He didn't want me to experience things 00:13:02.54\00:13:05.09 that the enemy has in store 00:13:05.12\00:13:06.88 if I'm not paying attention to the word 00:13:06.91\00:13:09.09 and sticking to what God's plan for me is. 00:13:09.12\00:13:11.89 And so when I get outside the line sometimes, 00:13:11.92\00:13:14.88 God has to do or allow certain things to happen to me, 00:13:14.91\00:13:17.94 consequences to happen to me of my own choices 00:13:17.97\00:13:20.91 which I bear today in the life that I lived. 00:13:20.94\00:13:24.48 Some of the temptations 00:13:24.51\00:13:25.54 that are still present in my life today 00:13:25.57\00:13:27.68 are because of having made 00:13:27.71\00:13:29.29 so many wrong choices over and over and over. 00:13:29.32\00:13:31.77 They're engrained, they're stained on me. 00:13:31.80\00:13:34.42 But He brings me back, points out to me 00:13:34.45\00:13:37.08 that He allowed those things to happen 00:13:37.11\00:13:39.02 so that I could truly see 00:13:39.05\00:13:40.36 what genuine love is, true love is. 00:13:40.39\00:13:43.27 we actually can build on that, 00:13:43.30\00:13:47.24 "For whom the Lord loveth He chastens, 00:13:47.27\00:13:50.77 and scourges every son whom He receiveth." 00:13:50.80\00:13:53.77 And I think we've all been scourged 00:13:53.80\00:13:56.91 by our parents time to time. 00:13:56.94\00:13:59.09 And I remember when my mother would say, 00:13:59.12\00:14:01.48 "This hurts me more than you." 00:14:01.51\00:14:03.37 And I would say, "Yeah, right." 00:14:03.40\00:14:06.09 But now as a father myself 00:14:06.12\00:14:08.17 and you, Steve, you know as a parent, 00:14:08.20\00:14:10.60 it truly hurts the parent 00:14:10.63\00:14:12.80 to punish or discipline a child. 00:14:12.83\00:14:14.75 And yet that is love. 00:14:14.78\00:14:16.76 I mean, it should be a loving act 00:14:16.79\00:14:20.37 because we want to train these children 00:14:20.40\00:14:22.99 to walk in the way of the Lord. 00:14:23.02\00:14:27.46 And I think of the example of all of the work 00:14:27.49\00:14:30.25 that I've done in Romania, I've been there many times. 00:14:30.28\00:14:33.08 And I see these little street urchin children 00:14:33.11\00:14:35.41 that have been put out by their families 00:14:35.44\00:14:37.49 because they can't afford to feed them anymore. 00:14:37.52\00:14:39.96 And they roam the streets like animals. 00:14:39.99\00:14:42.86 And my heart goes out and I feel love towards them 00:14:42.89\00:14:45.09 and I'd like to adopt one and bring home. 00:14:45.12\00:14:47.53 But the thing of it is 00:14:47.56\00:14:48.59 I don't love that child and leave him where he is, 00:14:48.62\00:14:52.71 and God doesn't love us that way. 00:14:52.74\00:14:54.77 We love-- I would love that child 00:14:54.80\00:14:56.94 enough to accept him into my home and clean him up, 00:14:56.97\00:15:00.79 shave his head, burn his clothes, 00:15:00.82\00:15:02.36 soak him in a hot tub for a week, 00:15:02.39\00:15:03.87 deworm him, delouse him, 00:15:03.90\00:15:05.60 give him good food, good clothes, 00:15:05.63\00:15:08.09 you know, good things, good education. 00:15:08.12\00:15:10.21 As Mike says, don't forget the puppy, you know. 00:15:10.24\00:15:12.70 And that's the way God is with us. 00:15:12.73\00:15:15.33 He loves us and He disciplines us 00:15:15.36\00:15:18.10 and He trains us to be like Himself. 00:15:18.13\00:15:20.96 And He gives us the puppy. Yeah. 00:15:20.99\00:15:22.83 You know, I've learned that lesson especially 00:15:22.86\00:15:26.38 since I've become a dad. 00:15:26.41\00:15:27.97 And I know you can relate to this, you know. 00:15:28.00\00:15:29.29 I have a little boy, he's 9 years old, 00:15:29.32\00:15:31.56 Seth, and I have a little girl Abigail, Abi, she's 6. 00:15:31.59\00:15:36.12 And I love my kids more than life itself. 00:15:36.15\00:15:38.69 I would sacrifice my life for them, I really would. 00:15:38.72\00:15:41.65 There's nothing I want more than 00:15:41.68\00:15:42.71 for my kids to be in heaven. 00:15:42.74\00:15:44.39 And because I love them so much, 00:15:44.42\00:15:47.75 I want to train them to do what's right. 00:15:47.78\00:15:51.23 And when as different things happen in our home, 00:15:51.26\00:15:54.63 I could go into a whole host of examples, 00:15:54.66\00:15:56.01 I know you could, too. 00:15:56.04\00:15:57.58 If either Seth or Abi, 00:15:57.61\00:15:58.87 you know, one time recently Seth and I, 00:15:58.90\00:16:01.36 we were playing a little board game, 00:16:01.39\00:16:02.92 and he finagled. 00:16:02.95\00:16:04.69 And he-- you know, I was kind of looking the other way, 00:16:04.72\00:16:07.22 and he rolled a little dice, you know, to move. 00:16:07.25\00:16:09.69 I think it was monopoly. 00:16:09.72\00:16:11.11 And he saw that it didn't-- rolled the dice, 00:16:11.14\00:16:15.67 didn't come up with the number that he wanted 00:16:15.70\00:16:18.80 and one of them fell off the board. 00:16:18.83\00:16:21.32 And so he grabbed it, 00:16:21.35\00:16:22.68 looked at that, figured that out, 00:16:22.71\00:16:23.92 this is not what I want and so he rolled it again. 00:16:23.95\00:16:26.74 And then I caught him on that, and I told him, I said, 00:16:26.77\00:16:29.85 "Seth, you know, you're really 00:16:29.88\00:16:32.14 not being honest with that situation. 00:16:32.17\00:16:35.06 That first roll was the roll that you rolled. 00:16:35.09\00:16:38.21 And because you didn't want that number 00:16:38.24\00:16:41.56 where you want it to go, you changed it." 00:16:41.59\00:16:45.05 And actually gave him a Bible verse later on. 00:16:45.08\00:16:46.55 I said, "I want you to read," 00:16:46.58\00:16:47.62 I think it was Luke 16:10 that says, 00:16:47.65\00:16:49.53 "He who is faithful in that 00:16:49.56\00:16:51.08 which is least is faithful also in much." 00:16:51.11\00:16:53.45 And then I talked to him about that. 00:16:53.48\00:16:54.52 And I'm trying to instill in him 00:16:54.55\00:16:57.07 through this practical experience 00:16:57.10\00:16:58.39 the importance of telling the truth and being truthful 00:16:58.42\00:17:03.77 and practicing the truth even if it's not something 00:17:03.80\00:17:06.27 that you may exactly want. 00:17:06.30\00:17:08.48 So it's just a small thing, but because I love my boy, 00:17:08.51\00:17:12.02 I'm willing to discipline him, to correct him, to instruct him 00:17:12.05\00:17:17.15 because I want what's best for him. 00:17:17.18\00:17:19.53 And I do this over and over and over again. 00:17:19.56\00:17:22.56 And I've learned that because, 00:17:22.59\00:17:24.22 you know, God loves me like that verse 00:17:24.25\00:17:26.57 that you read, both of you, 00:17:26.60\00:17:28.36 Jesus said "Those whom I love I rebuke, 00:17:28.39\00:17:32.57 and I discipline, repent." 00:17:32.60\00:17:33.68 It gives us moral character. That's right. 00:17:33.71\00:17:35.31 And sometimes as parents this is an all day process, 00:17:35.34\00:17:39.02 and so it should help us understand 00:17:39.05\00:17:40.54 with our Heavenly Father it's 24x7 also towards us. 00:17:40.57\00:17:43.45 Right. 00:17:43.48\00:17:44.51 And He has a lot of things to deal with, much more than us 00:17:44.54\00:17:46.95 just rolling a dice on a game of monopoly. 00:17:46.98\00:17:49.82 As we get bigger, of course, we have big issues. 00:17:49.85\00:17:52.66 And God loves us and so these verses say 00:17:52.69\00:17:55.89 that He disciplines us. 00:17:55.92\00:17:57.07 Now I want to shift to love and morality, 00:17:57.10\00:18:00.62 the moral nature of love because we're just so confused. 00:18:00.65\00:18:03.89 We grow up, we're just-- 00:18:03.92\00:18:05.96 we don't really know what love is. 00:18:05.99\00:18:07.03 We hear love, we see Hollywood, love each other, 00:18:07.06\00:18:09.84 you know, they leave their spouses 00:18:09.87\00:18:11.60 because they love this person or that person. 00:18:11.63\00:18:13.91 And love is thrown around all over the place. 00:18:13.94\00:18:16.49 And yet according to this book, 00:18:16.52\00:18:18.95 what is the connection between love and morality? 00:18:18.98\00:18:23.95 Well, love is a principle. 00:18:23.98\00:18:26.10 And when we apply love it needs to be 00:18:26.13\00:18:28.04 in harmony with the principles that God has given us. 00:18:28.07\00:18:30.79 Otherwise, you know, it gets misplaced 00:18:30.82\00:18:33.33 and causes all kinds of heartache and difficulty. 00:18:33.36\00:18:36.14 We can't-- 00:18:36.17\00:18:37.22 If we just go with our feelings and emotions really 00:18:37.25\00:18:40.51 and follow puppy love it's really following lust 00:18:40.54\00:18:44.22 and letting that dictate our behavior 00:18:44.25\00:18:47.37 and our choices rather than our mind 00:18:47.40\00:18:49.88 which should be operating in harmony with the will of God. 00:18:49.91\00:18:54.37 There's a verse in Romans 13: 10. 00:18:54.40\00:18:58.98 Have we talked about that? 00:18:59.01\00:19:00.29 Ron, would you like to read that? 00:19:00.32\00:19:01.37 Romans 13:10. 00:19:01.40\00:19:02.43 "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. 00:19:02.46\00:19:05.31 Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." 00:19:05.34\00:19:07.76 And that's stated over and over in the Bible with-- 00:19:07.79\00:19:11.46 Jesus said in John 14:15, 00:19:11.49\00:19:13.35 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 00:19:13.38\00:19:16.23 And one that I really like is 1 John 5:3 in which he says, 00:19:16.26\00:19:19.62 "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. 00:19:19.65\00:19:23.16 And His commandments are not grievous." 00:19:23.19\00:19:26.34 His commandments are really the definition of love 00:19:26.37\00:19:28.79 because they are a reflection of His character, 00:19:28.82\00:19:32.14 and God is love. 00:19:32.17\00:19:35.77 You know, it helps me understand today that, 00:19:35.80\00:19:38.62 you know, as I pray, and I pray every day 00:19:38.65\00:19:41.39 that God will help me fall more and more in love with him. 00:19:41.42\00:19:44.23 And it makes sense for the verse that says, 00:19:44.26\00:19:46.08 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." 00:19:46.11\00:19:48.71 And, you know, we have verses in both 00:19:48.74\00:19:52.08 the New and the Old Testaments that tell us, 00:19:52.11\00:19:55.67 you know, the importance of keeping His commandments. 00:19:55.70\00:19:58.01 But we don't want to do that out of a checklist notion. 00:19:58.04\00:20:03.49 The only way that I'm gonna regard 00:20:03.52\00:20:05.07 God is if I fall in love with Him, 00:20:05.10\00:20:07.38 if I know that His ways are perfect. 00:20:07.41\00:20:09.69 And that if I abide in Him and surrender to Him 00:20:09.72\00:20:13.10 that He will bless me. 00:20:13.13\00:20:14.16 And so as I walk with God today 00:20:14.19\00:20:16.97 and I see that I surrender and I give things over to Him, 00:20:17.00\00:20:19.91 that I deny self as He asks me to do, to live for Him, 00:20:19.94\00:20:23.97 that He greatly blesses my life. 00:20:24.00\00:20:26.52 We can't always see on the other side of the wall. 00:20:26.55\00:20:30.23 So it takes an act of faith and believing in God 00:20:30.26\00:20:33.18 and His truth and His Word, 00:20:33.21\00:20:36.78 that He reveals to us on the other side 00:20:36.81\00:20:39.05 of that wall are beautiful, wonderful things for us, 00:20:39.08\00:20:42.04 rewards for us for having kept His commandments. 00:20:42.07\00:20:45.19 You know, when Jesus says, 00:20:45.22\00:20:46.31 "If you love Me, keep My commandments," 00:20:46.34\00:20:48.15 that's really a very reasonable statement. 00:20:48.18\00:20:50.92 You know, as husbands 00:20:50.95\00:20:52.73 we probably have heard our wives say in the past, 00:20:52.76\00:20:55.16 "If you really love me..." 00:20:55.19\00:20:57.15 you know, and then we know what's coming. 00:20:57.18\00:21:00.07 I mean, we use this term and we even may say 00:21:00.10\00:21:03.28 the same things to our wives. 00:21:03.31\00:21:05.15 And Jesus is simply saying, 00:21:05.18\00:21:06.57 you know, if you really love Me, 00:21:06.60\00:21:08.84 this is what pleases Me, this is what makes Me happy. 00:21:08.87\00:21:12.40 And so it's perfectly logical and reasonable. 00:21:12.43\00:21:15.28 That's right. 00:21:15.31\00:21:16.57 In our family we go through the Ten Commandments a lot. 00:21:16.60\00:21:19.69 And my son especially, he's older than Aby, 00:21:19.72\00:21:22.39 and he knows the Ten Commandments 00:21:22.42\00:21:23.49 from top to bottom. 00:21:23.52\00:21:24.84 And it just makes sense to me 00:21:24.87\00:21:27.60 in my relationship with my wife and with my kids 00:21:27.63\00:21:30.45 that to put God first is part of God's moral love, 00:21:30.48\00:21:34.28 that's what's best for me, 00:21:34.31\00:21:35.35 it's what's best for our family, 00:21:35.38\00:21:36.42 not to have any idols, not to take God's name in vain, 00:21:36.45\00:21:39.73 to keep God's day holy, to honor my father and mother. 00:21:39.76\00:21:43.29 We teach our kids, "Honor your parents" 00:21:43.32\00:21:45.03 because that's what's best for a happy home. 00:21:45.06\00:21:47.91 Don't murder, don't commit adultery. 00:21:47.94\00:21:49.90 I tell the kids, you know, adultery would be, 00:21:49.93\00:21:52.97 they want to know what that text means, 00:21:53.00\00:21:54.73 so I tell them, "Well, I'm married to your mommy. 00:21:54.76\00:21:57.24 And if I were to go out and find another mommy, 00:21:57.27\00:22:00.13 that would be adultery. 00:22:00.16\00:22:01.27 And God does not want that. 00:22:01.30\00:22:03.04 And because I love Mommy, which I do, 00:22:03.07\00:22:05.92 I don't want to do that." 00:22:05.95\00:22:07.37 And so love then has a context, and it has moral principles. 00:22:07.40\00:22:14.04 And I don't want to steal, I don't wan to lie, 00:22:14.07\00:22:16.46 I don't want to covet, 00:22:16.49\00:22:17.52 I want to love God with my whole heart, 00:22:17.55\00:22:19.25 soul, mind and strength and my neighbor as myself. 00:22:19.28\00:22:21.86 And those principles of love are moral principles. 00:22:21.89\00:22:25.81 You know, I think one thing 00:22:25.84\00:22:27.72 that God kind of revealed to me, 00:22:27.75\00:22:29.28 simple thing here recently was the fact that, 00:22:29.31\00:22:32.96 you know, He's put these things in place for us. 00:22:32.99\00:22:35.24 And we find the world just really bending things. 00:22:35.27\00:22:38.46 And I think that if it was apropos God's plan 00:22:38.49\00:22:43.46 for gays and lesbians today to be parents, 00:22:43.49\00:22:48.00 there would have been a commandment 00:22:48.03\00:22:49.27 that would have said, 00:22:49.30\00:22:50.38 "Honor thy father and thy father, 00:22:50.41\00:22:52.32 or honor thy mother and thy mother." 00:22:52.35\00:22:54.37 But that's absent, and that's a big indicator to me 00:22:54.40\00:22:56.87 that this isn't part of God's plan for us. 00:22:56.90\00:22:59.78 You know, one way I really like to go through the commandments, 00:22:59.81\00:23:04.06 I put these two together, 00:23:04.09\00:23:05.92 and I just take the words of Jesus, 00:23:05.95\00:23:07.34 "If you love Me, don't have other gods before Me. 00:23:07.37\00:23:10.70 If you love Me--" You know, and I go through them. 00:23:10.73\00:23:13.27 And when you come to the seventh commandment, 00:23:13.30\00:23:14.98 if you say, quote Jesus, 00:23:15.01\00:23:16.97 "If you love Me, don't commit adultery. 00:23:17.00\00:23:19.58 If you love Me--" 00:23:19.61\00:23:20.65 And see this is what I applied to my life, 00:23:20.68\00:23:22.69 and I'm sure you did, too, Wayne. 00:23:22.72\00:23:24.47 If you love Me, 00:23:24.50\00:23:25.98 don't be involved in this kind of relationship. 00:23:26.01\00:23:29.75 It's not in harmony. 00:23:29.78\00:23:30.90 If you really love Me, 00:23:30.93\00:23:32.43 you need to bring this to an end. 00:23:32.46\00:23:34.06 And that's what happened with me. 00:23:34.09\00:23:35.88 I learned to love Him more. 00:23:35.91\00:23:38.37 And I think in many cases what we call love, 00:23:38.40\00:23:41.50 in many cases, not all cases, 00:23:41.53\00:23:42.96 but in many cases it's really just lust. 00:23:42.99\00:23:45.12 It's lust, it's not really love. 00:23:45.15\00:23:47.31 And God has given us the Ten Commandments. 00:23:47.34\00:23:50.04 And when we think about this whole sexuality issue, 00:23:50.07\00:23:52.44 I mean, like you said the fifth commandment does not say 00:23:52.47\00:23:54.76 "Honor your father and father." 00:23:54.79\00:23:55.82 It says "Honor your father and mother." 00:23:55.85\00:23:57.61 And the second commandment talks about the sins of fathers 00:23:57.64\00:24:00.32 being visited upon the children, 00:24:00.35\00:24:02.68 the tenth commandment talks about 00:24:02.71\00:24:04.24 not coveting your neighbor's wife 00:24:04.27\00:24:07.00 or anything that belongs to your neighbor, 00:24:07.03\00:24:09.02 and the seventh commandment, 00:24:09.05\00:24:10.43 you know, is respecting the marriage relationship, 00:24:10.46\00:24:11.91 not committing adultery. 00:24:11.94\00:24:12.97 And when you really honestly look at the big ten, 00:24:13.00\00:24:15.37 God's law of love, it basically, not basically, 00:24:15.40\00:24:18.69 but it does support traditional marriage. 00:24:18.72\00:24:21.39 Husbands, wives, children, adultery, 00:24:21.42\00:24:24.58 God's original plan in the Garden of Eden 00:24:24.61\00:24:26.79 as was revealed by the owner's manual, 00:24:26.82\00:24:29.73 which we talked about previously. 00:24:29.76\00:24:31.32 And real love, true love, biblical love is God's attempt, 00:24:31.35\00:24:36.82 He loves us, and He wants us to bring us 00:24:36.85\00:24:39.15 into harmony with His law of love 00:24:39.18\00:24:42.73 because that is really what's best for us, 00:24:42.76\00:24:44.88 it's what's best for our children, 00:24:44.91\00:24:46.35 it's what's best for our society. 00:24:46.38\00:24:48.33 And one of these days 00:24:48.36\00:24:50.09 it will become the law of the land in the new earth 00:24:50.12\00:24:53.73 when we will be living with our God forever and ever. 00:24:53.76\00:24:57.73 And doesn't Jesus reveal Himself 00:24:57.76\00:25:00.63 through the marriage institution to children? 00:25:00.66\00:25:04.64 This is one way children learn more about God, who is love, 00:25:04.67\00:25:08.24 if they have a proper family. 00:25:08.27\00:25:10.30 Example. 00:25:10.33\00:25:11.47 He instituted that marriage to help portray 00:25:11.50\00:25:15.48 and teach children about Himself. 00:25:15.51\00:25:17.33 So God can still love us and not approve, 00:25:17.36\00:25:19.88 is that correct? 00:25:19.91\00:25:20.94 Yes. Of everything we do. 00:25:20.97\00:25:22.62 Yeah, so if God can love sinners, can we? 00:25:22.65\00:25:26.96 You know, that's a good thing to point out 00:25:26.99\00:25:29.89 because I see today as we go and we speak around the world, 00:25:29.92\00:25:34.71 we meet many parents 00:25:34.74\00:25:37.35 who are compromised often about their children 00:25:37.38\00:25:40.92 who are living openly in a gay lifestyle 00:25:40.95\00:25:43.55 that they didn't plan for them or a gay culture, 00:25:43.58\00:25:45.82 however you want to term it. 00:25:45.85\00:25:49.35 I think that first of all 00:25:49.38\00:25:50.54 the enemy goes after young people 00:25:50.57\00:25:52.52 because he wants to get them 00:25:52.55\00:25:53.70 before they can get rooted in the word of God. 00:25:53.73\00:25:56.49 But often when he grabs the children, 00:25:56.52\00:25:58.60 he'll reach right behind them 00:25:58.63\00:26:00.10 and try to grab the parents, too, 00:26:00.13\00:26:02.19 by saying that if you really love your children, 00:26:02.22\00:26:05.54 you're going to put a stamp of approval on their sin. 00:26:05.57\00:26:09.37 And so you would attend, you know, a gay wedding, 00:26:09.40\00:26:12.76 or you would do something that you're indicating 00:26:12.79\00:26:15.72 that you love them through that. 00:26:15.75\00:26:16.78 Yeah, we'll talk about that more in a future program, 00:26:16.81\00:26:19.53 that's a big issue. 00:26:19.56\00:26:21.06 I'd like to close with Romans 5:8 says that 00:26:21.09\00:26:25.74 "God demonstrated His love, it's His love, 00:26:25.77\00:26:28.89 this kind of love toward us, in that, 00:26:28.92\00:26:31.75 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 00:26:31.78\00:26:37.37 God's love is a pure love, it's a true love. 00:26:37.40\00:26:39.68 It's a love that doesn't overlook 00:26:39.71\00:26:41.96 and doesn't revise and doesn't just ignore sin. 00:26:41.99\00:26:45.42 It's a love that manifested itself in God 00:26:45.45\00:26:49.81 giving His own Son to deal with sin. 00:26:49.84\00:26:54.36 And the way He dealt with it 00:26:54.39\00:26:56.11 is that He took it into his mind and heart, 00:26:56.14\00:26:58.65 and He paid the ultimate price for you and for me. 00:26:58.68\00:27:01.93 He died for our sins and rose from the dead. 00:27:01.96\00:27:04.75 And He wants to forgive us and change our lives 00:27:04.78\00:27:07.90 and prepare us to love Him forever 00:27:07.93\00:27:10.07 so we can be happy throughout all eternity. 00:27:10.10\00:27:14.27 We'll be back with more of Coming Out. 00:27:14.30\00:27:17.09 If you would like to order the 13 part 00:27:17.12\00:27:18.97 Coming Out series for $34.95 plus shipping, 00:27:19.00\00:27:22.02 call 1-800-782-4253, or write to White Horse Media, 00:27:22.05\00:27:26.54 PO Box 1139, Newport, Washington, 99156. 00:27:26.57\00:27:30.95 Pastor Ron Woolsey, Wayne Blakely 00:27:30.98\00:27:32.84 and Mike Carducci are each available 00:27:32.87\00:27:34.49 to conduct a seminar in your area. 00:27:34.52\00:27:36.86 To schedule a speaking engagement, 00:27:36.89\00:27:38.33 contact Coming Out Ministries by calling 360-936-8514, 00:27:38.36\00:27:43.64 or visit comingoutministries.org. 00:27:43.67\00:27:46.62