2023 Village Church Biblical Sexuality Meeting
I made the four hour drive to Berrien Springs on Friday morning. During the trip I dealt with a police report and insurance adjuster regarding one of our hydraulic dump trailers that was stolen off of a project early Friday morning. I hate that sort of thing.
May the Lord forgive them. (And may they also have four spontaneous flat tires when they try to sell it—Lord willing, of course.)
Sprawled across the hotel bed, I sent out our weekly Fulcrum7 Newsletter and then headed to the Village Church in Berrien Springs. Friday night.
I took my usual place in the balcony, quiet as a churchmouse (not THE ChurchMouse, of course).
The theme song was super fitting “Power in the Blood.”
There will be another meeting like this next year, praise God.
While there are other meetings in Adventism that support an unbiblical view of sexuality, this meeting is committed to God’s view of sexuality and the freedom and purity He offers in Christ.
Testimony - Daniel Varela
The meeting opened with a testimony by Daniel Varela, a young Puerto Rican man.
Daniel acknowledged some of his struggles as a boy, such as a few enemy encounters (spiritualsm), exposure to pornography, and the usual struggles to fit in. His father—a third generation Adventist—was a military man and gone a lot. Daniel’s material needs were well provided for, even though his parents struggled in their marriage early on. Daniel attended an SDA church as a boy and was impressed with it.
One day his parents took their marriage to a higher level by forgiving each other. From that experience, Daniel knew God existed. His family went to church more regular after that.
The shame that he felt from pornography exposure led to depression and eventually to same-sex attraction. This unnatural attraction followed him into his college years; at times he was envious of heterosexual couples.
In (an SDA) college he connected with an underground gay group. He had a ‘boyfriend’ on a Christian campus. Deep down he knew what he was doing wasn’t in harmony with God’s Word. He began to pray about it, and the Lord led him to the Psalms where he found comfort. Also, the verse “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24) brought conviction and eventually freedom from the LBGTQ error. Praise God. As to the underground gay group on campus, he cites the verse ‘Their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).
He met a girl at GYC and they became friends. She is his girlfriend now.
"In case you are wondering, I am physically attracted to her" he said. The audience laughed. Jesus set him free!
Bryce Bowman
We are created in Gods image, we have a conscience.
In a liberal mindset, society becomes the determiner of right and wrong. But the Bible does not support the notion of relative morality.
God gave us a conscience to realize the sacred claims of divine law. It is a talent lent to man by God. Powerful quote.
Humans are higher than animals. When your dog shreds the couch and hangs his head when you come home, that is not conscience, like a human has. A dog has the capacity for rebuke through external stimuli; cats don’t have it at all. Audience laughed.
Emotions are like a gas pedal, when they run away a crash happens. The conscience is a steering wheel. Reason and conscience are blinded by sin. They can be made alive by the Holy Spirit.
A conscience can be over sensitive. We need reason to discern His character. A conscience can be seared by hot iron, these people can be intelligent but their conscience is not sanctified. No compassion.
Conscience is never intended to be loosened to do as it wishes. If the authority of your conscience is a postmodern emphasis, it will mislead you. Conscience is kept healthy by constant contact with the word of God. Test your conscience with the word of God.
Conscience is a God-given capacity to determine right from wrong.
"Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
Sabbath
Ron Woolsey — People say “God loves me the way I am.” Then why does He say “Be transformed by a renewing of your mind”? (Romans 12:2).
James Ash gave a good talk in Chapel on Mary of Magdala and the woman at the well.
Daniel Varela’s parents were at the meeting. They are an encouragement to parents who have a child in LGBTQ sin. The father knew there was something different about is son, but didn’t know how to deal with it. So he gave it to God. He spoke to parents, “Pour your heart out to God. It wasn’t easy, but God is able and faithful.”
Tony Scarpino — When you hide a secret it drives you underground emotionally. He and his wife dated with no kissing or holding hands for four months. Self abuse. Shame and guilt. Wife is an amazing person. Heard Coming Out Ministries at ASI. Living in freedom now. Joyful. Many people are blessed and changed by Comoing Out Ministries. Other pseudo ministries say “Come and stay as you are” (pro-LGBTQ).
I am so impressed with Village Church and Coming Out Ministries. They are doing the work of God.
Danny Shelton
At the beginning of the divine service, Ron Kelly walked in with a pair of surprise visitors in tow. Danny and Yvonne Shelton.
Danny talked about his new book Can The Christian Church Affirm LGBTQ+? 2.5 Million copies are being printed right now. They are giveaways. He also said,
For some reason people won’t stand up on this issue, even in our own Church. Our responsibility is to be a watchman on the wall. If someone comes in to your congregation and says “I’m a thief. I want to be your church treasurer”, do you allow that? No. We have to love people enough to tell them the truth.
Some pastors say we gotta be preaching about the Sunday law, we don’t want to talk about LGBTQ or abortion. We gotta preach present truth. I said, I hate to tell you this but the Sunday law is not present truth. Uh-oh, some of you got quiet. Sunday Law is not present truth. What the church needs to deal with today is present truth, and the LGBTQ tsunami is present truth. If we ignore this big problem, when the Sunday law comes it will go right over our heads.
Danny has a sermon on YouTube titled “Can the Church Affirm LGBTQ?” It currently has 386,000 views. A Baptist pastor watched it and contacted Danny and asked if he could have a transcript of the sermon so he could preach it in his church. It is popular.
Sermon — Ron Kelly
Heresy, Blasphemy, Treachery, and Identity. I think he covered all the bases here.
Kindergartners get gender, PhD’s don’t. Six Heresies.
You have to be an expert to understand the Bible.
This person can’t change.
You are a product of catastrophic chance.
Your life is your life. You can do with it as you wish.
You can choose your gender.
You can’t return to your God-given identity and your case is hopeless.
Blasphemy
Members of the SDA Church who affirm LGBTQ+. The real apex of God’s creation was mankind—man and woman created in His image. This is what God looked at and said it is very good. Is this political speech? No. The image of God in humanity is being defaced and destroyed. This is moral speech. Doctors who perform gender mutilation and help confused children destroy their God-given gender are committing blasphemy.
Pastors and counselors who in the name of grace deny the power of God to help people resolve moral failure. They affirm sin.
Hospital administrators who claim the name of Adventist and affirm the moral confusion of LGBTQ in their institutions.
Church Administrators who remain silent as wolves ravage the flock. It is hypocrisy when seventh-day Adventist ministers are put on a do-not-speak list, but deviant and neopagan philisophies can be shared in churches and on campuses within these administrations. This is blasphemy.
“Were it not that the world is hopelessly intoxicated with the wine of Babylon, multitudes would be convicted and converted by the plain, cutting truths of the word of God. But religious faith appears so confused and discordant that the people know not what to believe as truth. The sin of the world's impenitence lies at the door of the church” (GC 389).
Treachery
In a couple weeks there will be a celebration of homosexuality in one of our university churches. As I saw the images on Facebook I felt that I was looking at a demonic force of ancient paganism. Treachery. Treachery is a violation of allegiance or faith or confidence. It is an act of treason.
Parents. Smart phones can be poisonous puff adders.
Some children go to our universities and come out twisted. This is treachery.
Closing remarks. He mentioned the people who gave testimonies this week,
“You now have a target on your back, but you are living evidence of 2 Corinthians 5:17.” AMEN.
Then it was time for lunch. And lunch was awesome.
Observations
Friends, this is the work of God. Seriously.
Meetings like this should occur in every one of our colleges and academies. Seventh-day Adventist youth everywhere should be introduced to uplifting testimonies of moral freedom like this! They should have the blessing of sound moral teaching, finding in Jesus Christ a Friend who can deliver them from the lion’s den of iniquity, pornography, homosexuality, gender confusion, fornication and abortion. He is able to deliver you, and to keep you from falling. Coming Out Ministries is banned from speaking on all major SDA campuses. These administrators have blood on their hands.
Coming Out Ministries is doing the Lord’s work. The Village Church is demonstrating tremendous leadership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Stay tuned for part 2.
****
