In this video, Brian Anthony Bowen reveals Scriptures the Church never talks about which prove that Jesus taught that LGBT people are born this way...and that prove the Apostle Paul ordained Gay Marriage...IN THE BIBLE!
This changes EVERYTHING!
More info: http://BrianBowenMinistries.com
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In Chapter 2 of The Bed Keeper, we examined 1 Corinthians 6:9 in its context. In Chapter 16 of The Bed Keeper, we examined Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 and determined that it does not condemn gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, but rather heterosexual married men engaged in adultery with other men. In Chapter 19 of The Bed Keeper, we'll take a forensic look at Romans 1. But inthis chapter, we will now examine portions of Paul’s letter to Timothy regarding the blindness to the discoveries we've already made from Scripture concerning blanket (and unScriptural) condemnations of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, but also the dark spiritual force known as the Jezebel Spirit that would overtake the Church in the last days, and how it continues to lead many Christians to forbid people to marry.
Let’s begin with 1 Timothy 1:10 which reads,
10 [For] impure and immoral persons, those who abuse themselves with men, kidnapers, liars, perjurers--and whatever else is opposed to wholesome teaching and sound doctrine 1 Timothy 1:10
This is a small portion of a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, (a ministry mentee of Paul’s on assignment to spread the Gospel to the city of Ephesus; a city widely regarded as a major city of idol worshipers to Diana, a fertility goddess). As we have seen in numerous examples throughout The Bed Keeper, Paul had to keep a constant watch on people profaning the Gospel for financial gain (as in 1 Corinthians 6:9), and to prevent people from losing sight of the fact that the New Covenant superseded the Old Covenant (as in Galatians). In this portion of his letter to Timothy, we’ll hear some familiar phrases and references by Paul as he shares his experience with Timothy in an effort to empower him to withstand those who would use Christianity as a tool to bring shame to Jesus, instead of Glory, just as too many Christians do today when they attempt to parse out a Scripture here or there in order to condemn (or even justify killing) gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Now let us examine 1 Timothy 1:10 within the context of the entire chapter:
1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by appointment and command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), our Hope,
2 To Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace (spiritual blessing and favor), mercy, and [heart] peace [be yours] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on where you are at Ephesus in order that you may warn and admonish and charge certain individuals not to teach any different doctrine,
4 Nor to give importance to or occupy themselves with legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which foster and promote useless speculations and questionings rather than acceptance in faith of God's administration and the divine training that is in faith (in that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence)—
5 Whereas the object and purpose of our instruction and charge is love, which springs from a pure heart and a good (clear) conscience and sincere (unfeigned) faith.
6 But certain individuals have missed the mark on this very matter [and] have wandered away into vain arguments and discussions and purposeless talk.
7 They are ambitious to be doctors of the Law (teachers of the Mosaic ritual), but they have no understanding either of the words and terms they use or of the subjects about which they make [such] dogmatic assertions. 1 Timothy 1:1-7
NOTE: This is an important observation as it so closely resembles that of the majority of Christianity today. As we examined in the Chapter 16 of The Bed Keeper, we learned that many Christians today are anxious to use selectively applied passages from the Book of Leviticus--(which is part of the Law of Moses Jesus died to redeem us from)--in order to condemn gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. In their zeal to be “doctors of the Law,” (as Paul puts it), they have lost sight of the fact that many of the same passages of Scripture in Leviticus 18 and 20 carry death penalties for a host of other violations of the Ten Commandments as well (like heterosexual adultery), without even recognizing how they condemn themselves in the process of attempting to justify their religion-based bigotry. (See Romans 2:1-3)
What is also important to notice is how accurately 1 Timothy 1:6 describes those who would use the Church as a way to indoctrinate people into political positions that have nothing to do with Christianity, and everything to do with politics, or what Paul here calls “vain arguments and discussions and purposeless talk.” As 1 Timothy 1:5 so clearly states, “the object and purpose of our instruction and charge” is supposed to be LOVE, which springs from a pure heart and a good, clear conscience and sincere faith—not selfish ambition for political power.
8 Now we recognize and know that the Law is good if anyone uses it lawfully [for the purpose for which it was designed],
9 Knowing and understanding this: that the Law is not enacted for the righteous (the upright and just, who are in right standing with God), but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who strike and beat and [even] murder fathers and strike and beat and [even] murder mothers, for manslayers,
10 [For] impure and immoral persons, those who abuse themselves with men, kidnapers, liars, perjurers--and whatever else is opposed to wholesome teaching and sound doctrine
11 As laid down by the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
NOTE: Paul spells it out plainly here! The purpose of the Law is good only if someone uses it lawfully and for the purpose for which it was designed. For instance, It is important to know what the Law entailed for when we compare it to the New Covenant. It’s good to know how much better the sacrifice of Jesus was compared to the blood of bulls and goats. It’s good to know that Jesus paid the penalty for any misdeeds or violations of the Law of Moses anyone could possibly commit when He died on the Cross. It's also good to know that within the very context of his letter to Timothy, Paul is referring to the Law of Moses, meaning that whatever he was referring to by his use of the words malakoi (in 1 Timothy 1:10), and arsenokoitai (in 1 Corinthians 6:9), he must have been referring to acts already conveyed in the Old Testament. The only examples of same gender expressions we have from the Old Testament are heterosexual married men engaged in acts of adultery on the "downlow," (from Leviticus 18 and 20), and the (attempted) rape committed by heterosexual men from the Sodom account. As Paul said in yet another letter of his:
The Law does not rest on faith [does not require faith, has nothing to do with faith], for it itself says, He who does them [the things prescribed by the Law] shall live by them [not by faith].
Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us, for it is written [in the Scriptures], Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified). Galatians 3:12-13
Finally, it’s important to realize that these original words Paul used in 1 Corinthians 6:9 (arsenokoitai), and in 1 Timothy 1:10, (malakoi),are both widely defined in theological circles as pederasty, and male shrine prostitution, respectively. What that refers to then is a man having nonconsensual sexual relations with another man or boy (such as the preachers Paul rebuked in 1 Corinthians 6:9 that we learned about in Chapter 2 of The Bed Keeper), or a man who hired himself out as a cult temple prostitute for the purpose of worshiping ancient Greek, Roman or Canaanite gods through same gender expressions (as here in 1 Timothy 1:10). In neither case do we see an example of what we refer to today as consensual sexual expression between two gay men, nor do we see any reference with either of these words in regards to lesbian, bisexual or transgender people.
To say that arsenokoitaiand malakoirefer to gay men would mean that lesbians were not included in God’s supposed blanket condemnation of all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. If this was the case, then already we see that these two words do not--indeed cannot--be a blanket condemnation of all sexual expressions between two people of the same gender. The context and use of these words are simply too narrowly confined to very specific acts, and to very specific audiences. If all same gender sexual expressions were condemned by either of these words, it would have universally applied to both men and women, yet they do not. And if both these words were describing the same act, Paul would have only used one word, not two different ones. Neither would Paul (nor anyone else) have created confusion for young Timothy (a man just starting out in ministry) by using two different words to refer to the same act.
While definitions of the terms vary among theologians, some translations of the Scriptures (including the Amplified Translation from whence the majority of Scriptures in The Bed Keeper are from), have rather loosely translated the phrase “participating in homosexuality,” without further defining the term "homosexuality" itself. While indeed a heterosexual preacher having sexual relations with boys on the side indeed qualifies as “homosexuality,”common translations of the word “arsenokoitai” too broadly defines the specific acts (and people) being condemned. For instance, just because a preacher may identify as heterosexual and engage in sexual relations with boys or men in his congregation, does not necessarily mean the preacher was homosexual himself.
Paul’s use of both terms were always specifically geared toward men, and always set in the context of adultery or idolatry. By translating the word arsenokoitai as “participating in homosexuality,” it fails to translate the original word specifically enough to apply to only the forms of homosexuality being engaged in. As another example, while arsenokoitai would apply to heterosexual men raping other heterosexual men, heterosexual men cheating on their wives by turning to other men, and while malakoi refers to particular heterosexual men hiring themselves out for shrine temple idol worship, these words do not (indeed cannot) refer then also to consensual sexual expression between two people of the same gender within the bonds of gay marriage.
First, it would contradict Paul’s own ordination of gay marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9. Secondly, it would show Paul condemning gay people (and only gay men at that), without condemning all the forms of homosexuality that can also be committed by heterosexual men. Some scholars assert that Paul’s meaning is universally applied to all forms of homosexuality for all people, but if this was the case, he would have used the same word in 1 Corinthians 6:9 as he did in 1 Timothy 1:10, yet did not. And if both these words were describing the same act, Paul would have only used one word, not two different ones.
Further, Paul had ample opportunity to word all expressions between two men or two women as plainly as he did so when describing those engaged in by the men in Romans 1, which we’ll examine more carefully in Chapter 18 of The Bed Keeper, and realize Paul never condemned female/female sexual expressions anywhere. The women he spoke of in Romans 1 were having sex with animals (not each other) as expressions of idol worship.
For Paul to make the distinctions he does in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 by using two separate words, coupled with his lack of mention of any female/female sexual expressions (and his focus on only heterosexual men engaged in idol worship in Romans 1), means so too must any serious student of God’s Word make these same distinctions. We must realize that there is no time in Scripture where God condemns gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people outright, with one exception; gay men willfully engaged in adultery by knowingly engaging in sexual relations with a married heterosexual men (which we explore in Chapter 19 of The Bed Keeper).
As we have already understood from studying the Sodom account and the Book of Leviticus, it is clear that there are various forms of homosexuality, and that they are not all committed by homosexual men. We know today of heterosexual men who cheat on their wives with other men, and we know today of heterosexual men who rape other heterosexual men in prison. To say that Paul was using two different words to condemn one same act would be to either ignore gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people engaged in loving sexual expressions between themselves within the bonds of single gender marriage which Paul himself ordained in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, or that Paul was overlooking heterosexual men who engaged in homosexual acts of adultery, idolatry, or rape.
It seems highly unlikely Paul would ignore blatant violations of the Ten Commandments such as idolatry and adultery in order to focus instead on same gender expressions. But one thing is certain, Paul cannot mean to condemn all forms of homosexuality without contradicting himself (and condemning a group of people for whom he had already sanctioned gay marriage), or either by ignoring evil acts of heterosexual man on man rape, or heterosexual preachers molesting under age boys, or heterosexual married men seeking the sexual favors from gay men that they were unable to obtain from their wives.
To properly understand Paul’s true meaning of both words is to simply ask,
“Would Paul be condemning sexual expressions between two people of the same gender within the bonds of gay marriage which he himself ordained in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, or was he condemning heterosexual men engaged in acts of adultery, idolatry and/or rape?"
The answer becomes most clear when we understand that Paul referred to the Old Covenant many times as he reinforced condemnations of sinful behavior under the New Covenant. For Paul to condemn any forms of homosexual activity would be to condemn only those already condemned in the Old Testament. The only forms of same gender expression already contained in the Old Covenant are heterosexual married men engaged in adultery (as in Leviticus), or heterosexual men engaged in acts of rape (as in the Sodom account). Paul never condemned anything in the New Covenant that wasn’t already condemned in the Old Covenant, and he never introduced any “new” sins. To say that he was condemning an act in the New Covenant that was never condemned in the Old Covenant when writing his letter to the church in Corinth--(or to Timothy)--would say that he had no Scriptural authority or spiritual basis for doing so, especially in light of his own observation that we are no longer bound to the curse of the Law. As Paul clearly states in his letter to Timothy,
6 But certain individuals have missed the mark on this very matter [and] have wandered away into vain arguments and discussions and purposeless talk.
7 They are ambitious to be doctors of the Law (teachers of the Mosaic ritual), but they have no understanding either of the words and terms they use or of the subjects about which they make [such] dogmatic assertions.
8 Now we recognize and know that the Law is good if anyone uses it lawfully [for the purpose for which it was designed],
9 Knowing and understanding this: that the Law is not enacted for the righteous (the upright and just, who are in right standing with God), but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who strike and beat and [even] murder fathers and strike and beat and [even] murder mothers, for manslayers,
10 [For] impure and immoral persons, those who abuse themselves with men, kidnapers, liars, perjurers--and whatever else is opposed to wholesome teaching and sound doctrine
11 As laid down by the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
12 I give thanks to Him Who has granted me [the needed] strength and made me able [for this], Christ Jesus our Lord, because He has judged and counted me faithful and trustworthy, appointing me to [this stewardship of] the ministry.
13 Though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and was shamefully and outrageously and aggressively insulting [to Him], nevertheless, I obtained mercy because I had acted out of ignorance in unbelief.
14 And the grace (unmerited favor and blessing) of our Lord [actually] flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure for me, accompanied by faith and love that are [to be realized] in Christ Jesus.
NOTE: Paul clearly states here that faith and love are to be realized in Christ Jesus, and that the many Christians who formerly condemned gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people by acting out of ignorance in unbelief, may obtain grace of our Lord which flows out superabundantly and beyond measure. But it does require faith and love for such Christians to have the courage to do so, and help right the ship and help bring correction the Church on these matters. Failing to do so is to be judged by their former judgments, and condemn themselves (Romans 2:1-3). Likewise, for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to fail to forgive such repentant Christians would be to condemn ourselves, even though we were never in the wrong. Forgiveness is a two way street, and as Jesus said, He cannot forgive us for our trespasses against others if we do not forgive others for their own against us. This can be hard to do, but it is Jesus’ command just the same.
As we learned in Chapter 1 of The Bed Keeper, Jesus Himself taught that “There are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb…for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 19:12
Ignoring Jesus’ Own teaching about LGBT people being born so in Matthew 19:11-12, and ignoring Paul’s own ordination of single gender marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, and ignoring God’s Own prophecy to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Isaiah 55:11-56:12 is everyone’s prerogative. But as Paul continues to teach Timothy:
15 The saying is sure and true and worthy of full and universal acceptance, that Christ Jesus (the Messiah) came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost.
16 But I obtained mercy for the reason that in me, as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might show forth and display all His perfect long-suffering and patience for an example to [encourage] those who would thereafter believe on Him for [the gaining of] eternal life.
17 Now to the King of eternity, incorruptible and immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever (to the ages of ages). Amen (so be it).
18 This charge and admonition I commit in trust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning you, so that inspired and aided by them you may wage the good warfare,
19 Holding fast to faith (that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith.
20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan in order that they may be disciplined [by punishment and learn] not to blaspheme.
And as the Holy Spirit later prophecies through Paul in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 (in the exact same letter to Timothy):
The Holy Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach, through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared (cauterized),
Who forbid people to marry…
Again I ask, who else beside gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are “forbid to marry” in “the latter times” by those who have “turned away from the faith and gave attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach…..through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared?”
I think we all know the answer to that question by now, and it should affirm once and for all to whom Paul referred in both 1 Timothy 1:10 and 1 Corinthians 6:9. I pray that just as God granted mercy and forgiveness through faith and love to Paul for his unbelief and ignorance, that He too will grant it to those who continue to point to these passages of Scripture to justify their religious-based bigotry toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, as they continue to forbid people to marry….
....because as we’ll learn in Chapters 20 and Chapter 21 of The Bed Keeper, there are enormous prophetic reasons for doing so, and the life and future of the Church, as well as the return of Jesus Christ Himself, are depending on it!
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Dear Valued Readers,
This blog continues to be a work in progress. As recent revelations and events throughout Christendom have created an increasingly fluid situation, updates will no longer be published at the end of each post, but rather only at the beginning of the corresponding posts so impacted. As of August 1, 2013, the only updates to appear at the end of each post will be churches that are personally endorsed by The Bed Keeper as a "SAFE SPACE."
Readers may email thebedkeeper@gmail.com to discuss or comment on any posting. Please note that while all feedback is highly valued and appreciated, it may not be possible to reply to each email.
Readers may email thebedkeeper@gmail.com to discuss or comment on any posting. Please note that while all feedback is highly valued and appreciated, it may not be possible to reply to each email.
UPDATE 01.15.12:
Lakewood Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 11.22.11:
Eagle Mountain International Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
Lakewood Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
UPDATE 11.22.11:
Eagle Mountain International Church officially endorsed as a SAFE SPACE for LGBT people to worship! Details here.
THANK YOU for your generous support of this work!
Let him who receives instruction in the Word of God share all good things with his teacher, contributing to his support.
Galatians 6:6
