As if WO isn’t bad enough, the Central States regional conference in Kansas is planning on ordaining a single woman with strange views on sexuality.
Kimberly Bulgin, who is the ‘pastor’ of the New Beginnings SDA church in Witchita, Kansas, is scheduled to be ordained, in violation of the will of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on October 23.
She is the founder of the Love God, Love Sex Movement, which claims to “challenge your traditional Christian viewpoint on sex when we destroy common myths about our sexuality.” Here are a few ways that she is challenging traditional Christian viewpoints of sex[uality], from her own blog.
Our Response
Physical intimacy is created by God for the pleasure and enrichment of a husband and wife in biblical marriage. Sexual intimacy is designed to occur only in marriage. Sex outside of marriage brings significant consequences into a person’s life, and these consequences can be biblically resolved only through repentance and cleansing of the heart.
The Bible is not on trial by our sexual feelings, our feelings are on trial by the Bible (Isaiah 8:20).
The Bible’s teachings on sexuality is not the product of white privilege, ‘systemic racism’ or ‘patriarchy’ (which is a good thing), but rather it is the revealed will of God Almighty for human flourishing. He designed sexuality and He alone decides what is the right and wrong use of this gift (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:8).
Kimberly repeatedly characterizes the ‘church’ as being wrong on sexuality and contrasts the church with her own ideas about sex. The church is attempting to follow the Word of God on sexuality, not some capricious notions abut sexuality based on our own feelings (2 Corinthians 4:2)..
Moral failure brings several consequences into our lives, and I understand that Kimberly is trying to ameliorate the shame that people experience with sexual sin, but the consequence of shame is resolved only through repentance and cleansing of the heart (1 Cor. 6:18; 1 John 1:9). God allows guilt shame and fear to enter the heart of a person after moral failure—these consequences are a wake-up call to repentance, a ‘check-heart’ light flashing on the dashboard of our lives (Psalms 32:3). Without repentance, there is no freedom from moral sin. With repentance and a proper attitude, moral failure can be resolved, and the heart can be set free to experience joy and peace again. God is good!
Encouraging women to expose parts of their bodies in church for reclaiming some sort of personal ‘freedom’ is from the devil, not from God (1 Peter 3:1—6). God will hold at least two people accountable on That Day—those who entice and those who lust.
We live in a world that is saturated with sex. There are three types of intimacy: spiritual, emotional, and physical (sexual) and they are arranged in that order in the Bible. Adam experienced intimacy with God first, then emotional intimacy with his wife and then later physical intimacy with her, creating children. The world (which is under the control of satan) turns that order upside-down, placing sexual intimacy at the top and spiritual intimacy last (1 John 5:19).
To single people, the Lord says through Paul, “It is better to marry than to burn (with passion) — 1 Corinthians 7:9. This creates the proper climate for the expression of physical intimacy.
Premarital sex causes a lot of consequences in a person’s life (1 Thessalonians 4:1-7). It re-wires the heart of a person. If unresolved, after marriage, a woman will respond to things that she shouldn’t and not be able to properly respond to the things that she should. And the same thing happens to the guy. We must inform our people about these consequences, caring enough to warn and educate them. As stated, these moral issues can be confessed and resolved, and the life re-wired, but it MUST happen in the heart for a person to get free. Only the power of Jesus Christ can accomplish this, and it only happens through humility, not pride.
Sexual impropriety outside of marriage will wreck your ability to experience emotional intimacy with that person, and cause conflict in the relationship inside of 14-days. Every time. And nobody feels loved during conflict, they feel rejection.
An intellectual exercise, or a brassy “I got this” approach to moral failure will not resolve the issue, in fact it will turn the problem into concrete, damaging your ability to bring honor to God (Proverbs 9:13-18). One consequences of unresolved moral failure in a woman is that she will become more masculine. I can explain why, later, if anyone is interested.
We sympathize with people who have been morally (sexually) damaged (there are a lot more of them than you realize). Most of us (including myself) have done things that we are not proud of in the past. The good news is that these things can be resolved from the heart, and you can experience peace, joy and freedom through Jesus Christ (I resolved those issues, decades ago). Such freedom will lead us to care about others with humility, not with aggressive brazenness operating on the fuel of self-love. Listen friend. Self-love is the cornerstone of iniquity, and the ennobling grace of Christ the cornerstone of righteousness and humility.
Pride will block the resolution of every sin in your life.
Death to self. Alive in Christ!
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“But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2).