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| Man this blog has served me well over the years.. It's really helped me mature as a blogger, thinker, theologian, and culture watcher.. As I look back and some of my old entries, I remember those different stages in my life.
For the past 3 months I've been debating if I should kill my xanga or not.. Part of the reason I loved being a part of the xanga community was because most of my VOH family was on it.. More than anything, I love the community of reader/blogger relationships that have been built by this..
But with the growing Web 2.0, I'm beginning to realize that integration is extremely important and Xanga as a blogging site is not very flexible.. I belong to multiple communities on the web and they all integrate and play nice with each other, but xanga is like in its own little bubble (Sorta like the church.. JP!)..
As well, I realized that as a leader in my church I need to lead.. Not just in spiritual and moral matters but I believe in cultural matters as well. What I see happening with many in my church is that they are sticking to a Web 1.0 mentality and I believe the culture is moving to Web 2.0 mentality (I'll write about this later) and for the church to stay in an old paradigm will be damaging to its witness..
So I'm leaving this xanga community to enter into the world of Web 2.0 in hopes to meet people where they're at and begin build more communities of shared ideas.. This is sort of mirroring my real life right now that it's kinda scarey..
With that said.. Thank you xanga community.. Thank you for your comments.. you're e-props.. your love and support..
You can find me at my new/old blog : http://jonathanhochan.com .. That's it! Come check it out.. If you have a RSS feed read, feel free to subscribe..
Good bye my xanga community!.
RIP www.xanga.com/soisauce001 12/28/2002 - 10/24/2008
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| So today in Ministry and Culture we talked about Technology and the use of it.. Everything that was said resonated with me and I feel like someone was giving voice to what I've been DYING to say for so long.. Anyways, my prof. showed me NING..
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| California Family Code Section 297.5
297.5. (a) Registered domestic partners shall have the same rights,
protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same
responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether they
derive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules,
government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources
of law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses.
Why this out cry of equal rights? It looks like equal right are already given to domestic partners. So in the immortal words of the Joker, "Why So Serious!"
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| Go to google maps and look up
Jefferson Street and Cucamonga Avenue in Ontario, California..
Click the street view..
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| Lord have a mercy on us, sinners. If left to ourselves, apart from your grace, we would remain powerless and hopeless in our sin.
This is going to be a tough entry to write. This is going to raise some eyebrows and piss some people off but I write this seriously out of love. Love for God, love for the elect, love for the lost and love for the homosexual community.
I've been having a hard time fully supporting Prop 8 and I wasn't sure why. Biblically, critically, and morally, I see the necessity of this proposition but something was holding me back pastorally. I've been wrestling with this for a couple of days now and this essay is the sum of my thoughts. Why I support and hate Prop 8 at the same time.
I. Why I support Prop 8
With the political season coming to a climax, talks about Prop 8 have been ever increasing. Prop 8 is a Proposition in California that will make a Constitutional Amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Prop 8 comes as a response to several activist judges who allowed same sex marriage in California, despite an early proposition (Prop 22) that the people passed saying that marriage is defined between one man and one woman. Prop 8 is suppose to protect the sanctity of marriage.
We live in a society that believes that morality is relative. I personally, do not believe they are relative. I believe in an objective moral standard. I believe that objective moral standard is found in the character of God reflected in the laws and commandments he gives. The Bible is clear that the practice of homosexuality is a sin. I believe it is a sexual sin like every other sexual sin. It is as much a sin as looking a pornography and having premarital sex. My Biblical and moral convictions prevent me from supporting same sex marriage. It is on these same Biblical and moral grounds that I support Prop 8.
As well, there is a philosophical reason (critical reason) why I support prop 8. Throwing out my Biblical and moral convictions, lets look at this whole scenario. Some are arguing that people should be allowed to marry who ever they want as long as it does not hurt anyone.. Furthermore, they might argue that it is wrong for Moral Conservatives to impose their morality on others.. These arguments fail and are typical of the relativistic society we live in.. To say it is wrong for moral conservatives to impose their morality on others is a moral judgment that the person stating this is imposing on the moral conservatives. On this grounds alone, same sex marriage does not have a strong foothold because the sword cuts both ways.
Secondly, simply from a stand point of the the law I think Prop 8 should be upheld. Lets just say that if we don't use Biblical convictions to be the standard, what is our standard of right and wrong, strictly from a law point of view.. We live in a democracy and so it would be ultimately, the will of the people.. What is the will of the people on the issue of same sex marriage??? In 2000, Prop 22 was voted on and with 61% of the vote supporting the prop, it passed.. This proposition prevent the recognition of same-sex marriage in California but on May 15, 2008 4 Judges overturned that proposition, GOING AGAINST THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.. This is not how a democracy should be run.. Anybody whose ever stayed awake long enough in a US Government Class knows that these judges overstepped their boundaries.. The will of the people spoke and the will of the people must be upheld..
If I haven't made it clear.. I support prop 8, so anyone who wants to accuse me of being against prop 8 or saying that I am legitimizing a homosexual lifestyle, I am not. Along with supporting prop 8, I also hate prop 8.
II. Why I hate Prop 8
I am about to walk on some slippery grounds that might get me in trouble but I'm ok with that.. I hate prop 8.. I really do.. Why? I believe that it's bring out the worst in the church, namely hypocrisy.. Before I give my reasons let me drops some Bible bombs..
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. - Matthew 23:23-27
“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye." - Luke 6:42 This is Jesus' description of hypocrisy.. My prayer is that His words would ring in our hearts as we approach this political season. I hate Prop 8 because it is bringing the worst out of the church.. It is bringing hypocrisy out of many believers.. Prop 8 is the protection of the Sanctity of Marriage but the church that I love, has done more to rape the Sanctity of Marriage than I believe the homosexual agenda.. I use the word "rape" because I can not think of a word to describe the ravaging that "Christians" have done to the Sanctity of Marriage. In America, half of all marriages end in divorce.. In the church a conservative estimate is that nearly one third of all marriages in the church end in divorce.. Sanctity of Marriage.. In the church... 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography... Sanctity of Marriage... Premarital Sex among Christians is on the rise.... Sanctity of Marriage Cohabitation among Christians are on the rise.... Sanctity of Marriage The Sanctity of Marriage has been under attack long before the homosexual agenda came on board.. To simply demonize the homosexual community and the homosexual agenda and not to look in-house, is the a epitome of the definition of hypocrisy.. Prop 8 is bringing the worse out of the church.. The blood of guilt is as much in our hands as it is in the hands of those who advocate same-sex marriage.. To stand and at rally's and prayer meetings, and to repent for the sins of the homosexual community while not repenting of the sins of the church is to utter the prayers of the Pharisees: “The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ " - Luke 18:11-12
We have ALL sinned.. We Have ALL fallen short of the glory.. Read Romans 2:1.. We are all guilty.. To stand and say I am going to make a stand for righteousness while swimming in a pool of sin is hypocrisy.. To claim that we are going to stand up for the truth of the Word and yet treat the word of God with such neglect and abuse is hypocrisy..
I hate prop 8 because it is bringing out the worst in the church that I love..
III. What I believe the right response should be..
Repentance... Prayer meetings and rallies... They all should be filled with the cries of repentance from the church.. How dare we stand and claim that we are the defenders of the sanctity of marriage when in fact we've done just as much to attack the sanctity of marriage?? How dare we demonize the homosexual community without seeing the real sinners that we are?? How dare we claim righteousness by our stance on prop 8 and not on faith??? How dare we claim to love the truth but bemoan sound exegesis.. It is not an us versus them.. It is an ALL OF US (Gay, straight, Christian, athiest.. etc) and HIM and we ALL stand guilty.. All followers of Christ, we must be in a place of repentance for allowing this battle over marriage to even come to this..
Grace... Believers should be praying for the grace to support this prop.. Our hypocrisy alone should disqualify us from making any judgments on this issue.. We need to repent and ask for God's graces to vote.. Pray that he would not hold our hypocrisy against our vote because ultimately we're voting against ourselves.. Condemning ourselves with this vote..
Vote... Support Prop 8 not based on YOUR moral worthiness but on His Moral Worthiness..
Humility... I don't even know what this is going to look like if prop 8 passes.. I do know that the church must take a posture of humility towards the homosexual community.. On one hand we must be obedient to the convictions that God placed in us and on the other hand we're just as guilty.. .We must walk in humility.. Everyone is talking about the ramifications if Prop 8 does not pass.. What about the ramifications if it does? The schism between the homosexual community and the church will be all the more wider.. We must walk in humility.
Pray... Prayer is not twisting God's arm.. Prayer is listening to his voice and aligning ourselves with His will.. Not just our will and his will but our attitudes and His attitude.. His love and our love.. His Wisdom and our Wisdom.. We must pray for His will to be done.
If prop 8 passes.. If there is not a sense of bittersweetness, we've missed it..
Lord, have mercy on us.
Hosanna. Lord save us.
You,
therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for
at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself,
because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that
God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So
when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things,
do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience,
not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? - Romans 2:1-4
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