"Love" one another

[LordKnows]

I'm hearing this regularly from Christians.

Anytime the bible disagrees with something someone does I hear people say "we're to love our neighbors". But, since when does "love" mean accept, tolerate, overlook or shrug off?

I "love" my daughter but never accepted her wrongdoings. I "corrected" her thinking. Disciplined her when she was wrong, selfish & deceptive. She didn't get options or have a say living under my roof. I made it known to her. Just like we don't get to make the rules living under God's roof. Does it mean he loves us less, of course not. God disciplines his chosen ones in love but when & why have Christians become such pansies? Why are so many Christians pushovers? How many "warnings" did Jesus give the demons that were tossed into the pigs that drowned? Did he given them the option to stay in the man? Did he even argue with them?

If God is the same yesterday, today & forever why are his chosen people so lenient & tolerable?

Wrong is wrong no matter how many say it's right. We Christians tend to shrug it off not making any waves. Preaching "we're to correct in love" but most of us don't. Afraid of causing a debate. The word of God isn't up for debate. If the person you correct with the bible hates you afterwords GREAT! God is hated. Jesus is hated. We are to be hated by none other than Satan.

People pleasers don't & won't have a seat at the table in heaven.

God corrects them he loves. If were to love our neighbors, correct them. Get out of your comfort zone. Their souls depend on a single correction God uses us to have them hear.

In Christ, Mindy

 

[B-A-C]

Exactly.

 

[Christ4Ever]

@LordKnows

Doesn't it really depend on whether they are believers or not? On how one should handle the situation? Not the love part, but the correction?

If believers. Should the correction actually be more in form of encouragement to do better? For when you do this, you are already identifying the issue/s that they are having trouble with. If believers they are. They are more than likely being convicted by the Holy Spirit already for what they are doing.

Many times (if not all the time) the believer is aware of their own deficiency/sin and may even hate that they're doing it. So chastisement, though appropriate in certain instances, might not necessarily be the norm that one uses to help that other Brother or Sister in Christ Jesus. Now if they try to make excuses for it. Like children and like any good parent knows. "A look of disapproval is worth a thousand words!" In those instances a word of encouragement on how they might better improve themselves by spending more time on their knees with God and in His Word would be the best advice and order of the day for them!!!!

Of cause this does not mean condone the action/behavior from either believer or non-believer. Now, if you're unwilling to be helpful, then keep your peace and send your prayers heavenward for them might be the best step to take.

Still, keep in mind that for the non-believer there are bigger fish to fry. We're not told to clean them up before bringing them to the Lord. First step is the Gospel, and that really means meeting them where they're at, which might not always be a place where we're comfortable being. The Lord ate and was always or at least seemed to be with sinners! Wasn't that the issue that the Pharisees & Sadducees had with Him? So in a way you are meeting them halfway. That they are willing to listen to you present the "Gospel" is the first step to hopefully, a change happening to them that may actually mean the difference between "Life & Death". Allow yourself to be the vehicle by which the Holy Spirit might convict them. So, you have to remember. What is more important? For them to receive the Gospel and the knowledge that God does love them no matter what horrible things they may have done or are doing. Or that they're living the life of a reprobate and that there is no hope for them until they change? Now there is nothing wrong with fire & brimstone type of preaching, if that what you're doing, but that type also provides them the Gospel where in they might find repentance!

We are not so far apart on how we may see things Sister Mindy. Just a little bit of tweaking on how we go about either helping them grow in the Lord, or providing them the knowledge of the one and only Savior Jesus Christ by which they may be saved.

Only with the Love of Jesus.
YBIC
Nick
<><

 

[B-A-C]

I think you are mostly right. However I disagree with the part about believers always being convicted.
I think more often than not... Christians make excuses for "self" to avoid conviction.

I notice Christian singer Trey Pearson came out as gay today. (Even though he is married to a woman)
I notice a lot of churches and "Christian" radio stations are supporting him in this. Why should he
feel convicted?

I know at least two people here on TJ who are living with someone they aren't married to.
One frequents these forums and is quite active here. There has been many references to fornication
that they have been involved in. Yet for whatever reason (my opinion is hardness of heart) they
think this doesn't apply to them.

It may be that God doesn't punish unbelievers.. simply because they are unbelievers.
(However I think this will definitely happen during the tribulation)
But I believe He does punish unbelievers (especially leaders) who force His people to do
things against His will. (Pharaoh in Egypt for example, Nebuchanezzar, and Mordecai.. etc.)
This could be the current government of the US.

 

[Christ4Ever]

They are more than likely being convicted by the Holy Spirit already for what they are doing.

However I disagree with the part about believers always being convicted.

In my post I never used "always" :thumbsup: Notice brother what I underlined in my post.

In truth just naming a person believer is making a leap of faith and making first, an assumption that they are truly what they say they are. Second that they are attempting to grow in the Lord and His Word. Now a days finding both "may" be harder to find than either one of us realize. At least statistically when comparing those who erroneously profess themselves to be Christians against those who are believers that are truly attempting to grow in Him and the Word of God. The example you mentioned is evidence of this very thing.

Always in Love of Jesus Christ Dear Brother.
Nick
<><

 

[Chad]

2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

 

[LordKnows]

@B-A-C

I don't know Trey singer but WHOA! Coming out as a gay Christian is like cold fire. How can he be called a "Christian" a backslider yes, but a Christian? Jesus said that demons believe in God AND know his word. Look at Satan, he KNOWS first hand, far better knowledgeable & wise with God than ANY Christian past or present.

A gay Christian. Just typing it doesn't make sense. It's like being lost and found at the exact same time. It's not possible. Most will disagree but that doesn't alter what the bible says. Heck, I myself don't like everything the bible says. I'm the bratty kid that stomps my feet, rolls around on the floor & pouts. Still doesn't change the rules of the bible.
I'm trying to imagine what God thinks about one of his kids "coming out" as gay. Is he even one of Gods kids? For Christians (I say that lightly) to see his coming out as a good thing is insane. What is the difference between fornication or being an adulterer coming out & admitting they sleep with someone their not married too?

How well would that be viewed as a good thing? Like "Yeah, Joe came out this year about his 6 year relationship with his mistress that he's not going to end" "Good for Joe" "Joe was just born without the ability to be faithful to his wife". What's the difference? Its like, "Good job Sally for sleeping with multiple men & not wanting to get married" "Well its not her fault, Sally was born not ever wanting to be married. She just wants sex, not a marriage". See how backwards that sounds. Yet, we have all been guilty of being/thinking backwards in some way.
"Coming out" is one thing, repenting (making your sin known by acknowledging & not repeating it) is far different. Now if he confessed (came out) to repent BRAVO!!! But I'm not congratulating anyone for being proud of sinning. WHO would be so stupid?! That's like patting a thief on the back for telling people he steals, shaking a liars hand for admitting he lies. My word, what has happened to right being right & wrong being wrong?

Jesus warned us this would happen. Its not shocking. Not to them that read the bible anyway.

Ignorance will not forfeit an eternity in hell. So many people think that but that's a lie too.

Christs soldier, Mindy

 

[Curtis]

All things must be done in the Spirit, and not in the flesh which really causes troubles to all. The Gifts of the Spirit are given to each so as to help each other. These gifts are not just used within a Church setting, but any where there is a need, and they are given as the Spirit wills, not as we will.

1Cor 12:4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.
1Cor 12:5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.
1Cor 12:6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
1Cor 12:7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. (NLT)

The primary method of correcting wrong believing, and actions are when the body of Christ is gathered together in a Church were the Word of God is being preached / taught under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The tool of choice used in all cases is the golden ruler where every is measured from which are the Holy Scriptures.

2Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Tim 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

When a brother or sister is in known sin the last place they want to be is in Church were the light is, which means, "have gun will travel" to where they are. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are essential to any success that we might experience, of course if the Lord is leading a brother or sister to them you will for sure be given whatever is needed to bring that person back to the light.
It might be at work, supermarket, on a street corner or any where they might be. Sometimes just your presence in bringing the light of God in you will cause a change without you even speaking a word to them. It is the anointing of the Spirit that breaks and destroys every yoke.

When Peter first met Jesus in person, he fell on his face telling Jesus to leave for he was a sinful man. Men fell down to Jesus when he was just a new born infant. Cornelius fell down at Peters feet when had come unto his home. There is great power that dwells within the Church which is the Glory of God.

 

[HisFollower]

Your comment is much appreciated, because many which profess Christ still follow the world with its political correctness, which has no part with the things that belong to God. As for love [for me anyway] practically speaking love is to care for, and it is a matter of caring for our neighbor as we care for ourselves, which care extends even to our enemies, that if they hunger, we will give them meat, if they thirst, we will give them drink. We therefore as our Lord Jesus Christ did, ought to be moved with compassion for caring of others well being: and this love also includes pointing out what is sin according to God; therefore if I am a thief, then someone ought to care for my well being and tell me that stealing is wrong; and so it is with every sin.

 

[B-A-C]

A gay Christian. Just typing it doesn't make sense. It's like being lost and found at the exact same time. It's not possible.

I wonder... is it any more possible to be, say an "adulterous Christian"? "fornicating Christian"? "idolizing Christian"? A "Christian who steals"?

1 Cor 6:9; Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
1Cor 6:10; nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

How about a Christian who gets drunk frequently? How about a man who isn't necessarily gay, but just "effeminate", or a woman who isn't necessarily a lesbian
but just "macho". (How many movies are about tough women leads?)
In any case.... is a homosexual Christian less of a Christian than these people? (or more of a Christian?)

I would also ask... if there a difference between a Christian who struggles with any one of the sins above, and a "Christian" who has given up on the struggle
and simply says "I'm going to keep doing [fill in the blank] sins. Because either Jesus's grace covers it all and it doesn't matter, or because other "Christians"
and even some churches say it's OK, it's not a sin. Finally is there a difference between struggling with a sin that you really want to quit doing in your heart,
and a sin that you don't care about (possibly even take pride in).

There is a church not far from where I work, I drive past it frequently... over half the cars in the parking lot have bumper stickers...
"I'm a Christian who believes in homosexual marriage". I've even seen T shirts that say this. Now while we might be disgusted by this...
Is this any different from a Christian who wears a T shirt that says "I don't drink anymore, but I don't drink any less"
Is this any different from a Christian who says.. "I'm a Christian, but I believe living together with someone I'm not married to is OK".

Gal 5:19; Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Gal 5:20; idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
Gal 5:21; envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

[Jesus_is_LORD]

Great topic. Time to jump into this.


So many great points have been raised. Here are some of my favorite points

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
@LordKnows ...Get out of your comfort zone....
@Christ4Ever We're not told to clean them up before bringing them to the Lord.
@Chad ..Preach the word....
@Curtis ...All things must be done in the Spirit, and not in the flesh which really causes troubles to all....
@HisFollower ....many which profess Christ still follow the world with its political correctness.....
@B-A-C Yet for whatever reason (my opinion is hardness of heart) they
think this doesn't apply to them.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


So I don't think that we are necessarily arguing with each other. It seems [TO ME] that we are putting the emphasis on
different aspects of the same issue.

For example look at the different denominations that we have. Some of it has to do with the where the emphasis is place.
Some want to emphasize baptism so we have the Baptist. Others want to emphasize the Sabbath so we have the 7 day Adventist. Others want to emphasize a correct method and order so we have the Methodist. Others want to emphasize their African heritage, so we have the AME (African Methodist Episcopal ) Church. Now it is not a perfect analogy(so don't get stuck on it) because of course when we put the emphasis on something to the extreme then there is unbalance and error likely will come up(As with the denominations).

Likewise in this discussion I think it is a matter of where we are putting the emphasis.
@LordKnows and @B-A-C may be putting the emphasis on not being ashamed of standing for Jesus and not being deceived. (Important)
@Christ4Ever and @Curtis may be putting the emphasis on making sure we don't allow our anger against sin to cloud the leading of the Holy Spirit (Important)
@Chad may be putting the emphasis on being led by the WORD and just bringing all things back to the Bible. (Important)
@HisFollwer may be putting the emphasis on love. (Important)

I think they are all important things. As @Christ4Ever pointed out what we stress likely should depend on our audience.

I pray you all will agree with me when I say that Jesus should be our example. We look at Jesus and see that Jesus He was short on WORDS
with the lady caught in Adultery and full of Grace in John chapter 8, but on the opposite end of the spectrum in Matthew 23:27 with the self-righteous Pharisees calling them "white washed tombs." It seems those who were outside of the body of Christ received a lot of Grace but those inside professing the name of God but disgracing it were rebuked and corrected, especially the self-righteous ones.

Motive is important.
Sometimes Jesus's motive I believe was not to necessarily change the hearts of the Pharisees( though He did want to) but to ultimately testify
to the truth. Remember when Jesus stood in front of Pilate. Jesus didn't yell and scream and say, "I'm here to save the world(though He was), I am the Son of God you must change." Jesus simply told Pilate, John 18:37 read, ""You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Sometimes in the midst of a sinful culture all we can do is testify of the truth, by being an example and shining the light. Jesus shined the light for Pilate in the midst of everything by not being rude and by not resisting even when He was being beaten and spat on (Mark 15:16)

Other times as with the Pharisees we need to be more confrontational and clearly rebuke as the Holy Spirit leads us. There is a place for rebuke and warning of Judgment. Even nonbelievers such as Sodom and Gomorrah and the people of Nineveh were warned by God's people, Lot and Jonah respectively. The thing with rebuke is that often times when God does tell us to rebuke, or has a specific person He wants us to rebuke it is often not a job we want to do. We may want to go to the gay pride march and rebuke and share Jesus, but God may be leading you to rebuke your brother who you are scared to confront but eager to go to tell the gay pride marchers about their sins. You may want to rebuke your gay brother who is a "Gay Christian(believes He is)" but God may have someone else to do that job and may want you to go to the gay pride march and hand out water and Bibles to minister to them. He may want you to call them to Him because He knows you will be less angry at them and more angry at your brother.

I agree with @LordKnows that many are deceived and as Christians we should encourage each other so that we are not one of the ones teaching that you can be gay and Christian. And I also believe that ultimately God is in control, He actually cares more than I do, and is more mad I believe at sin then I am, thus I will trust Him to lead me with pure motives, and to get me out of my comfort zone. For some your comfort zone is being too soft, for others it may be being too hard. But as we pray for God to show us ourselves, He will allow us to be used to change the hearts of some, and for others to just testify to the truth as some will not change.

 

[Jesus_is_LORD]

When we stand before God scripture doesn't seem to point directly to God asking us how many people we saved, but were we faithful.

God is the one saving people, all we have to do is stay faithful to Him. Stay faithful everyone.. Amen.


"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' ( Matthew 25:23 )

When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” ( Luke 18:8)

Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
( Luke 9:26 )

 

[amadeus2]

I wonder... is it any more possible to be, say an "adulterous Christian"? "fornicating Christian"? "idolizing Christian"? A "Christian who steals"?
....
In any case.... is a homosexual Christian less of a Christian than these people? (or more of a Christian?)

I would also ask... if there a difference between a Christian who struggles with any one of the sins above, and a "Christian" who has given up on the struggle
and simply says "I'm going to keep doing [fill in the blank] sins. Because either Jesus's grace covers it all and it doesn't matter, or because other "Christians"
and even some churches say it's OK, it's not a sin. Finally is there a difference between struggling with a sin that you really want to quit doing in your heart,
and a sin that you don't care about (possibly even take pride in).

Gal 5:19; Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Gal 5:20; idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
Gal 5:21; envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." James 1:8

But... having quoted that verse let us not stop with pointing our finger at the other guys.

Who among us is not in a measure double minded some of the time? Is this not what we are to overcome... the part of us that does partake at all in those things listed in Galatians 5:19-21. That's the "old man" seeking to regain in the us the dominion lost when God came into our heart. God does not lose battles but He cannot win a battle in which He is not allowed to participate or for which He is given no ammunition.

If we regularly consume more garbage than we do of the "flesh and blood" of Jesus then the Holy Spirit in us is pushed into a corner away from the battle. Eventually if we continue in this way the Holy Spirit will be gone from us as the anointing was gone from King Saul when God rejected him after one too many disobediences.

"But ye have not so learned Christ;
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph 4:20-24

If we have put on the "new man" let us feed the new man starve to death the old man.

 

[Jesus_is_LORD]

"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." James 1:8

God does not lose battles but He cannot win a battle in which He is not allowed to participate

QUOTE OF THE YEAR. NICE :thumbsup:.

 

[LordKnows]

@B-A-C You state some great points. Awesome points actually.

I wonder about the word "struggle". I mean if were struggling with something do we boast that we have the struggle or confide in private to someone who
I is able to direct them to some help. I was a full blown out of control drunk. Never once did I "come out" or let people in on my insane drunkenness (other than those that I drank with). I believe a struggle is something we want to overcome, get beyond & be rid of. I was delivered from drinking overnight. I had nothing to do with it. It was God & only God. Anytime I mention my sobriety I give ALL glory to God. Had it been up to me, I'd be wasted drunk right now. God knows exactly what we need to get rid of. I liked getting drunk. God wanted different for my days.

The whole coming out thing being a Christian is so backwards. Now that tells unbelievers that they don't have to change much. Just believe & keep living in sin. Homosexual pastors is no different than pedophile pastors.

Since there aren't any levels of sin, wrong is wrong.

Thank you BAC & everyone. God leaves his word in our hearts & I pray he never lets up.

Mindy

 

[Thiscrosshurts]

I was delivered from drinking overnight. I had nothing to do with it. It was God & only God. Anytime I mention my sobriety I give ALL glory to God. Had it been up to me, I'd be wasted drunk right now.

If someone does not have the ability to break off their own chains then they may need the same favor you received.
We are not truly free until God releases us from bondage,We can change our behavior for a while through sheer willpower or out of fear of hell or rejection from men but we should not mistake that for the change in heart only God can perform.
How many hours should we pray for someone to know God before we give up?
Jesus told us to heal them so should we blame those in prison for our lack of power to set them free?

Acts 10:38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
I have seen moves of God happen and people get healed and set free and remain faithful.
The moves don't seem to last long though because the leaders will usually try to control it and it dissipates.

1 Corinthians 2:4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,
1 Corinthians 2:5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.

When the world experiences the power of God and his love they will drop their indulgences like a hot potato.
Sin,sickness and death were dealt with on the cross and that's the good news and the new government that we should enforce.
We can either point out God or we can point out sin
We can point out the healer or the disease.
We can point out death or the the path to life

Without God's power changing lives is tedious and very time and resource intensive and the failure rate is very high.
I was not seeking until I saw the joy in the lives of a small group who I met that decided to pray for me.I didn't accept their message but they kept praying.
They prayed for me for three years and I don't like to think of what could have happened if they had given up after 2 years and 11 months..
The power of God hit me and old desires were replaced with a hunger for God.
I would have never bothered with something that could never be experienced or had no effect on lives.

 

[jadeofmay]

I'm hearing this regularly from Christians.

Anytime the bible disagrees with something someone does I hear people say "we're to love our neighbors". But, since when does "love" mean accept, tolerate, overlook or shrug off?

I "love" my daughter but never accepted her wrongdoings. I "corrected" her thinking. Disciplined her when she was wrong, selfish & deceptive. She didn't get options or have a say living under my roof. I made it known to her. Just like we don't get to make the rules living under God's roof. Does it mean he loves us less, of course not. God disciplines his chosen ones in love but when & why have Christians become such pansies? Why are so many Christians pushovers? How many "warnings" did Jesus give the demons that were tossed into the pigs that drowned? Did he given them the option to stay in the man? Did he even argue with them?

If God is the same yesterday, today & forever why are his chosen people so lenient & tolerable?

Wrong is wrong no matter how many say it's right. We Christians tend to shrug it off not making any waves. Preaching "we're to correct in love" but most of us don't. Afraid of causing a debate. The word of God isn't up for debate. If the person you correct with the bible hates you afterwords GREAT! God is hated. Jesus is hated. We are to be hated by none other than Satan.

People pleasers don't & won't have a seat at the table in heaven.

God corrects them he loves. If were to love our neighbors, correct them. Get out of your comfort zone. Their souls depend on a single correction God uses us to have them hear.

In Christ, Mindy

Correction is not discipline, you don't whip the main processing unit of a stray satellite when it runs off course.

First you learn what the fault is, then you make incrementally small adjustments to fix it's trajectory. Otherwise you make a big change all at once the satellite will come crashing down on unsuspecting people.

 

[rag4aCrown]

2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Amen brother; let our conversation become the gospel of Christ. When the mouth speaks, what spirit do we hearing speaking? Now, We address that spirit. It has identified itself by it's words; and we also must instruct the spirit according to the Word of God. Amen. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Speak to the unclean spirits. These practices have not been practices from quite sometime. Break the silence.

I believe the visions and messages God has given me for us. He is indeed turning the church and some are waking up. However, my testimony did not come easy. Many hated me, until they studied to find themselves approved and the Holy Spirit guided them in all truth. Praise God.

Hey guys, even the devil believes.

 

[rag4aCrown]

Great topic. Time to jump into this.


So many great points have been raised. Here are some of my favorite points

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
@LordKnows ...Get out of your comfort zone....
@Christ4Ever We're not told to clean them up before bringing them to the Lord.
@Chad ..Preach the word....
@Curtis ...All things must be done in the Spirit, and not in the flesh which really causes troubles to all....
@HisFollower ....many which profess Christ still follow the world with its political correctness.....
@B-A-C Yet for whatever reason (my opinion is hardness of heart) they
think this doesn't apply to them.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


So I don't think that we are necessarily arguing with each other. It seems [TO ME] that we are putting the emphasis on
different aspects of the same issue.

For example look at the different denominations that we have. Some of it has to do with the where the emphasis is place.
Some want to emphasize baptism so we have the Baptist. Others want to emphasize the Sabbath so we have the 7 day Adventist. Others want to emphasize a correct method and order so we have the Methodist. Others want to emphasize their African heritage, so we have the AME (African Methodist Episcopal ) Church. Now it is not a perfect analogy(so don't get stuck on it) because of course when we put the emphasis on something to the extreme then there is unbalance and error likely will come up(As with the denominations).

Likewise in this discussion I think it is a matter of where we are putting the emphasis.
@LordKnows and @B-A-C may be putting the emphasis on not being ashamed of standing for Jesus and not being deceived. (Important)
@Christ4Ever and @Curtis may be putting the emphasis on making sure we don't allow our anger against sin to cloud the leading of the Holy Spirit (Important)
@Chad may be putting the emphasis on being led by the WORD and just bringing all things back to the Bible. (Important)
@HisFollwer may be putting the emphasis on love. (Important)

I think they are all important things. As @Christ4Ever pointed out what we stress likely should depend on our audience.

I pray you all will agree with me when I say that Jesus should be our example. We look at Jesus and see that Jesus He was short on WORDS
with the lady caught in Adultery and full of Grace in John chapter 8, but on the opposite end of the spectrum in Matthew 23:27 with the self-righteous Pharisees calling them "white washed tombs." It seems those who were outside of the body of Christ received a lot of Grace but those inside professing the name of God but disgracing it were rebuked and corrected, especially the self-righteous ones.

Motive is important.
Sometimes Jesus's motive I believe was not to necessarily change the hearts of the Pharisees( though He did want to) but to ultimately testify
to the truth. Remember when Jesus stood in front of Pilate. Jesus didn't yell and scream and say, "I'm here to save the world(though He was), I am the Son of God you must change." Jesus simply told Pilate, John 18:37 read, ""You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Sometimes in the midst of a sinful culture all we can do is testify of the truth, by being an example and shining the light. Jesus shined the light for Pilate in the midst of everything by not being rude and by not resisting even when He was being beaten and spat on (Mark 15:16)

Other times as with the Pharisees we need to be more confrontational and clearly rebuke as the Holy Spirit leads us. There is a place for rebuke and warning of Judgment. Even nonbelievers such as Sodom and Gomorrah and the people of Nineveh were warned by God's people, Lot and Jonah respectively. The thing with rebuke is that often times when God does tell us to rebuke, or has a specific person He wants us to rebuke it is often not a job we want to do. We may want to go to the gay pride march and rebuke and share Jesus, but God may be leading you to rebuke your brother who you are scared to confront but eager to go to tell the gay pride marchers about their sins. You may want to rebuke your gay brother who is a "Gay Christian(believes He is)" but God may have someone else to do that job and may want you to go to the gay pride march and hand out water and Bibles to minister to them. He may want you to call them to Him because He knows you will be less angry at them and more angry at your brother.

I agree with @LordKnows that many are deceived and as Christians we should encourage each other so that we are not one of the ones teaching that you can be gay and Christian. And I also believe that ultimately God is in control, He actually cares more than I do, and is more mad I believe at sin then I am, thus I will trust Him to lead me with pure motives, and to get me out of my comfort zone. For some your comfort zone is being too soft, for others it may be being too hard. But as we pray for God to show us ourselves, He will allow us to be used to change the hearts of some, and for others to just testify to the truth as some will not change.

Amen. Beautiful post. I want to point out what you already stated, let us see and hear the bright shining Light.

Jesus had love and compassion on those who were rejected of God's people, then He did for those doing the rejecting and finger pointing. We accuse others but do the same thing. Example, say the gay preacher is speaking against the pedophile preacher; but the gay preacher is doing the same thing.

All praise glory and honor be unto God Amen