We at The Refiner's Fire are not attempting to bash homosexuals. People cannot help whom they are attracted to. We are simply bringing to the world's attention to what YHWH (Yahweh - The Creator) says via His Word (the Bible); and Scripture says it is "an abomination" and that one cannot engage in homosexual activities and belong to Him at the same time....He does not condone sin of ANY kind!

Therefore, our goal is to challenge especially the Christian pastors who insist "it's okay to be gay" and abuse the tired mantra, "We're born that way." One such pastor is Ted Haggard - the former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado (and a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches, as well as a seasoned leader of the National Association of Evangelicals) who fell from grace in late 2006 for admitting to buying drugs and having sex with a "gay massage therapist."

Rather than to realize he's no longer considered a man of God by GOD, Haggard has continued over the years to make himself very visible and even started a new church. Instead of pointing the finger at himself, he has stated his disappointment in New Life Church for being too harsh on him and basically placed the blame on "intolerance" over his situation. Of course, newspapers and television stations have clamored to keep him in the spotlight....

How any "man of God" who was caught committing what YHWH calls "an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22) could look into the TV cameras to say that "Jesus came to heal our wounds...." and publicly beg the homosexual community (instead of GOD) for forgiveness is anybody's guess. Haggard said he was angry at his treatment by fellow Christians after he was "outed" - and he wants the world to know that Christianity has it all wrong because surely God is no longer condemming homosexuality! One has to wonder: What part of "ABOMINATION" doesn't Haggard get?

Statements like the ones Haggard made are among the reasons The Refiner's Fire was created, as we attempt to show that Christianity is severely off the mark when it comes to God and the Bible. The God of the Bible never, ever suggested that what He once considered sin would somehow be eradicated after the death of His Son! It's high time for Christian pastors to READ the Bible from cover to cover so they can finally see that Yeshua did NOT come to start a "new religion" or to abolish His Father's Torah (Divine Instruction in Righteousness), without which we would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living!

Yeshua (our Savior's real Name) came to be our Final SIN Sacrifice, and the Bible tells us there is NO SIN SACRIFICE for continued and deliberate sinning after someone has accepted the Messiah!

Hebrews 10: 26 For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only the terrifying prospect of Judgment, or raging fire that will consume the enemies.

Please re-read the above: If you are a born-again believer and you know what God considers "sin" but you continue sinning, anyway, then you do NOT have the Holy Spirit residing within, and you do NOT belong to God! This is not our "interpretation" of the Bible; it is what God said and Yeshua and His Apostles continued to reiterate.

2 Peter 2: 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is slave to whatever has defeated him. 20 Indeed, if they have once escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah, and then have again become entangled and defeated by them, their latter condition has become worse than their former. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the Way of righteousness than, fully knowing, to turn from the holy command delivered to them.

People, let's get BIBLICAL about this kind of nonsense and stop making excuses! You either belong to God, or you don't!

Matthew 23: (Yeshua said) 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Haggard said in a January 2011 "GQ" interview: "We never had sex sex. I bought drugs and a massage from him, and he masturbated me at the end of it. That's it." In other words, it ain't THAT bad! This scandal is reminiscent of Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinski fiasco in which Clinton taught the world that "oral sex" wasn't sex, and therefore shouldn't be considered adultery - not to mention that the word "is" needed to be dissected and redefined. In Haggard's case, his co-workers and parishioners initially defended him to the point of ridiculousness, insisting that "he's not really a hypocrite because...."

At first Haggard tried to lie his way out of it, but ultimately admitted to not only knowing a male prostitute, but to having paid him for massages and to buying meth - and to having a "lifelong sexual problem". Regardless as to whatever happened or didn't happen between Haggard and the two-faced male prostitute who "ratted" him out, or whether Haggard actually did or did not consume the methamphetamines; the fact remains, he committed several sins against God and his congregation by breaking many Biblical rules.

That qualifies him a place of dishonor with the rest of the "fallen" pastors who have, through their deliberate actions, made believers in Messiah look like a bunch of hypocritical weirdos. Score another point for Satan because the atheist blogs are still having a field day with this one! (To make matters worse, the powerful media is always helping Satan: One of the major television network news anchors while interviewing a pastor about the Haggard scandal suggested, "Maybe it's time for the churches to just let people be gay." In other words, "Hey, believers - let's ALL be hypocrites!" Most "believers" don't seem to be living their faith, anyway, so why not show the world that we really don't know what we're doing!)

And let's not forget the person who caused the demise of Ted Haggard: the male prostitute, Mike Jones, who said he was doing "the moral thing" by exposing this issue. What kind of a world has this become when a prostitute can get media coverage to preach morality - especially when he doesn't seem to think it immoral to take money from men in exchange for the performance of unnatural sex acts!

Believers, it's time to stop pretending! We need to start calling the proverbial spade, a spade - especially where "men of God" are concerned. We need to STOP turning the other cheek and DEMAND that our religious leaders are who they present themselves to be!

Yes, we must all pray for Haggard and his family (and for Mike Jones and his family); yes, we should try to "love him back into the fold" (although there is no sin sacrifice for deliberate sinning - Hebrews 10:26); and yes, we have to forgive him (Mark 11:25) because - as humans we are all born into sin and we continue to be prone to sinning, because Satan is relentless and he knows what "buttons to push". But we are also required to take to task someone who is deliberately sinning (Titus 1:13-16, Titus 3:10). We are not supposed molly-coddle a sinner - especially a church leader!

Romans 16: 17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put snares alongside the teaching in which you have been trained - keep away from them. 18 For men like these are not serving our Lord the Messiah but their own belly; by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the innocent.

The Bible cautions us to "take every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Once we allow ourselves to go with our "carnal desires", we've separated ourselves from God. Apparently, that is what Pastor Haggard did. And, in the process, he deceived millions of believers who trusted in him - all the while millions of dollars in tithes were rolling in, in support of someone who we now know wasn't practicing what he preached.

2 John 1: 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

Haggard was not new to the Bible; he has been preaching from the Bible for most of his adult life - and he was very verbal about the sanctity of marriage and the evils of homosexuality. Therefore, it is obvious that he knew the following actions were WRONG:

Adultery:

Exodus 20: 14 "You shall not commit adultery."

Sexual immorality:

1 Corinthians 6: 9. Or don't you know, that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of Elohim? Make no mistake! Neither sexual sinners, nor idol-worshippers, nor adulterers, nor the corrupt, nor men who lay down with other men, 10. Nor the oppressors, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of Elohim. (Aramaic English New Testament)

1 Thessalonians 4: 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality....

Homosexuality:

Leviticus 18: 22 - You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.

Revelation 22: 14 How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

(Also, please see The Refiner's Fire's article: Comments for Gay Clergy.)

Drunkenness

(Including drunkenness from drugs or any substance that clouds our consciousness):

Romans 13: 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

Galatians 5: 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Timothy 3: 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

Titus 1: 7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless-not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Lying:

Leviticus 19: 11 "'Do not steal from, defraud or lie to each other. 12 Do not swear by my name falsely, which would be profaning the name of your God; I am ADONAI.

Idolatry:

Exodus 20: 4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines "idol" as: 1. a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly: a false god; 2. a: a likeness of something b: obsolete: PRETENDER, IMPOSTOR; 3. a form or appearance visible but without substance; 4. an object of extreme devotion (a movie idol); 5. a false conception: fallacy.

Let's face it: Haggard's idol was homosexual sex - something he continuously preached AGAINST....

Those who wish to sit back on their haunches and pretend this didn't happen, or choose to believe that Haggard "simply lost his way" may do so. In the midst of your sympathy, hopefully, you'll remember that this wasn't an "OOPS!" kind of a thing that happened one time during unexpected or uncontrollable passion. It was not a "mistake" - it was a DELIBERATE decision for him to drive the 75-90 miles from Colorado Springs to Denver over the course of at least THREE YEARS in order to visit a male prostitute for "massages" - which was deliberate sinning against GOD! He had PLENTY of time to consult God during each trip; he had plenty of time to seek psychiatric help in this dilemma. He obviously CHOSE not to....

Many believers believe "we're not supposed to judge" - but that is a total fabrication. WE aren't judging anyone; TORAH is the Judge! If someone has fallen off the path, we cannot stand by and ignore the sinner - especially these supposed "men of God" who try to tell us sinning is "normal"! We MUST try to guide them back onto the path. When Yeshua HaMashiyach (whom Christians call Jesus Christ) saw deliberate sinning, He didn't sit back and make excuses; He confronted the sinners - sometimes even engaging in physical action in order to make His statement (see Matthew 21:11-13) - and, He didn't hesitate to call supposed "men of God" hypocrites whenever He witnessed iniquity (see Matthew 6:2-5, all of Matthew 23, and Psalm 26:4-5 to mention just a few).

One of the main problems of today's lackadaisical churches whose leaders often don't practice what they preach, is that they believe Torah (God's Divine Instructions in Righteousness, without which we would have NO guidlines for moral, holy living) to be null and void. They believe "Jesus nailed it to the cross", without stopping to think exactly WHAT He nailed to the cross. He nailed our past SINS to the cross; He nailed our certificate of debt for breaking the Law to the cross - not His Torah. And He even said so:

Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (words/commands) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P'rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Has everything happened that must happen? Have heaven and earth passed away yet? If not, then why have we decided that God's "forever" commands have somehow been superseded?

The Christian church erroneously teaches that Torah was abolished at the cross, but nothing could be further from the truth! An article at Yashanet called "Not Subject to the Law of God?" explains: Attempting to gain salvation by following the Torah on your own without faith, and inevitably failing at some point, is the "curse of the Law" - not the Torah itself.

Yeshua didn't abolish Torah, and Torah isn't a "curse"! Since when are God's teachings a CURSE? He attempted to show us that MAN-MADE traditions and teachings had twisted God's Word. The teachings of the rabbis in "Biblical times" (just as the teachings of many of today's pastors!) had clouded the things God had actually said! This is backed up by the much-misunderstood teachings of Paul who said:

Colossians 2: 14 He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake.

What does the above refer to? "The bill of charges" - our SINS! That's what Yeshua abolished - not Torah! God warns us in Proverbs 4:2 - "I give you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah." (For more about Torah - God's original teaching and instruction, please see Torah Put in Simple Terms.)

Many today insist that since we have God's Word "written on our hearts" (2 Corinthians 3:3 and Romans 1) it automatically makes them "holy". How can something that we've never learned make us holy? Today's church leaders don't teach Torah; they teach that, all that's required of us is to "believe in Jesus" who supposedly gives us carte blanche to do whatever we want, because we're already forgiven! Many churches even teach that we no longer need to adhere to the Ten Commandments because believers in Jesus "have a higher calling" (see The Refiner's Fire's challenge to Bethel Ministries.) Unfortunately, the "fine print" in the Bible says otherwise! Yeshua said if we were "lukewarm" toward Him He would spit us out of His mouth (Revelation 3: 16)! Furthermore, Hebrews 6 makes it perfectly clear that those who deliberately turn toward "the world" are holding our Savior up to public contempt:

Hebrews 6: 4 For when people have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become sharers in the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), 5 and tasted the goodness of God's Word and the powers of the 'olam haba - 6 and then have fallen away - it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin, as long as for themselves they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again and keep holding him up to public contempt. 7 For the land that soaks up frequent rains and then brings forth a crop useful to its owners receives a blessing from God' 8 but if it keeps producing thorns and thistles, it fails the test and is close to being cursed (Genesis 3:17-18); in the end, it will be burned.

Make no mistake: God loves us, and He knows as humans we are prone to falling from grace. Yeshua paid the sacrifice for our sins; however, that does not mean we can do whatever we want because God does draw the line on continuous, intentional sinning. He said so:

Leviticus 26: 23 If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins.

Numbers 15: 30 "'But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming ADONAI. That person will be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has had contempt for the word of ADONAI and has disobeyed his command, that person will be cut off completely; his offense will remain with him.'"

Deuteronomy 7: 9 From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generations. 10 But he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them. He will not be slow to deal with someone who hates him; he will repay him to his face.

Isaiah 66: 24 "As they leave, they will look on the corpses of the people who rebelled against me. For their worm will never die, and their fire will never be quenched; but they will be abhorrent to all humanity.

Revelation 3: 16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

The Haggard fiasco is just one more sign of the end times. We are in the Twelfth Hour and Satan knows how The Book ends. He is very busy deceiving the world - "even the elect" (Matthew 24:24). Unless we are firmly rooted in God's Word (ALL of it!) we are prone to falling from grace, and into the lap of our worst enemy.

Some final thoughts - let's just lay it on the line:

Sorry to be so graphic, but we must expose some things for what they are according to what Scripture says: Gay men (as well as many heterosexuals) don't just engage in oral sex; they also have anal intercourse - sticking their private parts and fingers into a place whose only purpose is to excrete human waste and toxins. These acts are not only SICKENING, but the perpetrators run the risk of contracting infection and disease caused by the deadly e-coli bacteria. No matter how one attempts to justify it, whenever someone is having anal intercourse, they are guilty of touching the most unclean, bateria-infested part of a human body!

Our Creator who gave us His Torah (divine instructions in righteousness) said a person was guilty of sinning when touching "human uncleanness" (which, until Yeshua's (Jesus) death on man's behalf, resulted in the killing of an innocent animal to atone for any heinous sins!)....

Leviticus 5: 3 If he touches some human uncleanness, no matter what the source of his uncleanness is, and is unaware of it, then, when he learns of it, he is guilty.

Granted, most people probably couldn't care less about God, let alone bother to obey Him. But that is actually irrelevant in the grand scheme of things because there IS a Judgment Day when all of us (believers and unbelievers alike) WILL be standing before Him to discuss our lives on Earth. The reason we can be sure of this is because hundreds of Bible prophecies have already come to pass (see Accurate Messiah Prophecies), and there are but a few more to go as four of the seven Biblical Feasts have already been fulfilled - with just three more left.

No matter how you try to justify it, sexual contact ALWAYS involves genitals and therefore, no matter how it's done, or with whatever other body part it involves, sexual contact is sexual contact! (There is no way to twist it into something less, Mr. Clinton and Pastor Haggard!)

The thing is, in today's carnal world hardly anyone ever thinks about the fact that we have a Creator - YHWH (Yahweh) - who commanded us ALL to be sexually pure:

Adultery: Exodus 20: 14 "You shall not commit adultery."

Sexual immorality: 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters, nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Thessalonians 4: 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality....

Homosexuality: Leviticus 18: 22 - You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.

Revelation 22: 14 How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

YHWH has removed His Mighty Hand from this once Godly nation that is now fraught with immorality of all kinds. Not just from this nation, but the entire world, as evidenced by the many signs today.