Video Transcript: Passing the Blessing On

This is the 36 the last, the final lecture in our series on practical ministry skills.  And we will be talking about passing the blessing on. This is not in the book  pastoring the nuts and bolts, but we will also be talking about something, and I  got I ran this past President Reyenga, and I appreciate his approval, something  that I think is very important to talk about, because it is such a big issue in the  world now, and especially in the Christian world, especially in certain parts of the world, particularly the United States, North America, Europe. And that is how to  minister to the gay and transgendered community. So we'll be talking about that  a little bit too. Our key verse is speak the truth in love growing in every way  more and more like Christ, speak the truth, but speak it in love. In the American  culture, as I'm sure you're aware, whether you are in North America or just  hearing, reading what's going on in it, the acceptance of the LGBTQ+  movement, people who believe they are either non binary, and meaning neither  male nor female. Somewhere, people who believe that instead of there being  male and female, there is a spectrum, and people can be anywhere along that.  That's the kind of the trans part of it. And then the other part is people who may  very well acknowledge yes indeed I am male, yes indeed I am female, but I am  attracted to other people who are also the same gender that I am, those of us  not part of that need to beware of confusing the two, because gay and  transgender are often lumped together and have many similar goals, but they  are very different things, and I have heard some gay people very upset at being  lumped with transgender and so on, not that they think there's anything wrong  with that, just that they think that's not them and they don't want to do confused.  So that's the culture because of that, or going along with that, or contributing to  that. I don't know which it is, but in the United States, there have been a number of mainline denominations that have split over that issue, the Episcopal Church,  various Presbyterian, I believe, Lutheran denominations, the United Methodist is in the midst of going through something where that is the presenting issue, at  least within Methodism, probably within all of the other ones, too. The issue of  sexuality is just the presenting issue for deeper issues having to do with how we see the Bible and the authority of the Bible and how it should be understood,  and those kinds of things. But anyway, that's why I'm talking about it, because it  is such a big thing. And of course, anything that happens in the United States  tends to try to spill over into other parts of the world. So if you are not dealing  with this now, you well may in the future. Why am I talking about this? Other  than that? I think it needs to be talked about. Well, I have personal experience in my own family and with colleagues of people who are gay and of people who  are transgendered, and in my family as well as in congregations. Now I want to  be very clear that I believe the traditional, Orthodox historical position about  these issues. But I also want to say that there are those on the I hate to say the  other side, but that's pretty much what it's come down to. Who look at me and  say, Well, you allow women to preach. You believe that the Bible supports 

women preaching? Why do you not believe it allows gays to preach? Because  the Bible prohibits there are verses in the Bible that say women shouldn't  preach, and there are verses in the Bible that say gays shouldn't preach. And if  you're picking and choosing, it must be your own eisegesis, reading into the  Bible your own idea. That's what they would say to me, and I would say, No,  that's not the case. I believe that a consistent hermeneutic, a consistent way of  reading and understanding the Bible allows women preachers, but does not  allow practicing homosexuals and the reason I say that is because the passages about women, not preaching, as I think I mentioned earlier, are just a couple of  passages from one author, from one culture, from one situation. And I'm not  saying when I say one author, I'm not saying he could be wrong. It's in the Bible, and it's right, but what I'm saying is he was in one situation, dealing with his  situation, his particular culture, when he said he didn't allow women to speak or  teach. But through that. That's the only place and throughout the Bible, there are other examples of women who do speak and teach and lead and preach, even  in a similar culture as his. So that's with the women. On the other hand, with the  homosexual activity it is proscribed. It's described and it's proscribed as far back as Leviticus and Moses culture, Hebrew culture, of that similar to Bedouin kind  of culture, and in the cosmopolitan Greek culture of Corinth, 1500 years later,  and no examples anywhere in the Bible of anyone being mentioned as being  gay and being in any kind of leadership. So that's why I say that those are two  different issues. But let me say this, the Bible never addresses orientation or  attraction, just practice. It never says you should not be attracted to someone of  the same gender. It just says among this long list of sexual activity that you're  not supposed to do, which includes you're not supposed to have sexual activity  before you're married of any kind, you're not supposed to have sexual activity  while you're married. If it's with somebody else that you're not married to, you're  not supposed to have sexual activity. That means, therefore, while you and your  wife or your husband are apart in different places all of these or if one of them is  sick or not feeling well, or during the times of what was known in the in the  Jewish culture, in the Old Testament, is uncleanness. These were all times when people were not allowed to have sex, and so having sex with somebody else of  the same gender is just another one of those lists where it's the activity that is  prohibited. And I know of wonderful people who love the Lord, who are attracted  to people of the same gender, but because they love the Lord, they remain  celibate. They don't act on it, just as I know wonderful heterosexual people who  love the Lord, who are attracted to somebody of the opposite sex, but because  they're not married to them, they don't act on it. They don't do anything about it.  So that's kind of the gay but the transgendered, as I said, is a little different  thing, and it's a new thing. The Bible talks about men and women not wearing  each other's clothes, but there was no they didn't have hormone therapy and  sex change operations in the Bible, so it's not addressed there. So I really had to

go through a lot of prayer and trying to figure this out. When I was faced with a  situation, I came into a church, followed a pastor who told me about two  individuals that I was going to meet who were in the church. They had come to  the church some years before come to worship service, presenting as women. It turned out that both of them were biologically male, had actually been married  and fathered children, and then decided that no they were really female. And so  I believe both of them, by that time, there had been divorced and they were  presenting as females, and when they came to the church, my predecessor told  me they were both considering getting the sex change operation. They were  planning to do that. One of them went ahead and got the sex change operation,  and was still attending the church as a female. When I came the other one, just  prior to getting the sex change op operation, had had a through some  counseling, had had a, as I recall it, a vision from God, a vision of Jesus, in  which his sexuality, his identity as a man was restored to him, and he stopped  dressing as a woman and resumed his identity as a man. He actually has a  story out online. His name is Gordon Babcock, and he would love to have you  look it up and read his story online. I had the privilege a few years after I came  there of performing a wedding for between him and one of the ladies in the  congregation. And last I knew that was probably 15 years ago, last I knew they  were still happily married. So the two came. One was changed, I would say,  delivered, and the other one went ahead and had the operation. This one who  had the operation, came to me for counseling, not having anything to do with the identity, but because I will use the pronoun she, because physically and  everything now gone through that operation and everything, I don't quite know  what to do with people that are already at that except love them. But she  became because she was upset that the she wanted to go on the women's  retreat, and the women shared rooms on the women's retreat, and none of the  women wanted to share a room with her. Women got upset with her when she  went in the ladies bathroom, even though she had this operation and everything. So being a pastor, I was at first, very sympathetic, and you know, this is a nice  person coming to me telling me a story, and I'm sympathetic and trying to figure  it out. But then as I started praying and thinking and looking in the Bible, the  Lord showed me a couple of verses that I think are very helpful in this  conversation and how to approach it, and that is Romans 12:1 we've looked at  these verses before. Give your bodies to God because of all he has done for  you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. So the thing to do with our bodies is to present  them to God. It doesn't say anything about changing our bodies. Don't copy the  behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you. And now here's  how the change is to be made, according to God. Let God transform you into a  new person by changing the way you think. The trans Gender movement says,  change your body to match the way you think. The Bible says, give your body to 

God and change yourself by changing the way you think. In other words, don't  change your body, change your mind, whereas the transgender movement says, Don't change your mind, change your body. So two opposite things, opposite  ways of approaching it, and God promises, then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. I am not going to tell you that I  know how to minister in all of these situations, especially as I said, with  somebody who has already gone through you know, I know how I would counsel somebody that came to me wanting to know, should I have this operation? But if somebody already has, I have never had to deal with that, and I can't tell you, I  don't know what I would do pray because, because, if they're coming to you,  they want to, they want God, and God loves them. There is no unforgivable sin,  including any of the things we've just been talking about. As a matter of fact, no  kind of sexual sin is any better or worse than any other. Homosexual activity is  not any worse than adultery, it's any sin takes you away from God and stops  people from God. So the way I would approach it is welcome anyone into your  services, just the way you would welcome anyone who needs Jesus. Because  and then pray for them, and then counsel with them if they want to, but just treat  them like anybody else who needs Jesus. Because, contrary to the propaganda  that's out there, and I know people from personal experience, who this is true,  those who indulge in sexual sin or practice homosexuality. Some of you were  once like that. You were once like that, but you were cleansed. You were made  holy. You were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus  Christ and by the Spirit of our God, I Corinthians 6:9-11, all the way back there in Corinth, Paul writes that people were being delivered from homosexuality. I had  a family member who married somebody who was delivered from  homosexuality. I told you the story of the man who was delivered from the  transgender so God can deliver people. God can change people. Welcome them into your services, as you would any other person who needs Jesus. I would  say, however, be careful about positions of authority that you might put them into treating also anyone who still needs Jesus treating them the same way. And  speak the truth, not in judgment, not in legalism, but in love. All right, I want to  speak a little bit about passing on the blessing I showed you my current life.  Verse. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to  pass them on to others. II Timothy 2:2. I am so excited about the way that God  is using this book that I wrote and the this teaching, and I am excited to hear  how God is going to use these lectures, these videos. Pastor Manya in Kenya  was the first one who got a digital copy of this book, pastoring the nuts and bolts in Africa, as far as I know, and he asked me if he could teach it. And he started  teaching from the phone, taught a course, gave people certificates who  graduated from it, and it led to organizing a Bible study, because he passed on  what he learned with nothing more than his telephone. He didn't have a printed  copy. I think eventually he did get some money and print out one copy from the 

telephone. But he started by just holding his phone, reading a passage out in  English, interpreting it in Swahili, talking about it, expounding on it in English,  and then in Swahili, and then going back to read the next one. Kelvin in also, I  believe he's in Kenya, maybe northeast Tanzania, but I believe he's in Kenya,  

but he is of the Maasai. He took his phone and got it in English and read it out in Messiah. And wanted to do a translation into Maasai. He's still working on that,  and pray for that translation. But the way he started it is he had his youth group,  and he would read it in English, in his mind, from the telephone translated into  the Maasai language, and his youth group would write down the Maasai that he  said, and that's how he started the translation and the recording of the  translation into Maasai. I just thought that was so cool. Pastor Tambe in Sierra  Leone is organizing pastor conferences. I believe Pastor Sadiq, in one of the  Middle Eastern countries, is planning to do that, if you would be interested in  printing or distributing pastoring. I think I mentioned to you that we are trying to  fund print copies for people who can't afford telephones, can can't access digital  message me. You can find me on Facebook at Pastor David Wentz, share what  you've learned. Pass on the blessing. There's a saying you are blessed in order  to be a blessing, blessed to be a blessing. And don't limit your sharing to this  course. Share Bibles if you can. There are so many people that don't have  access to Bibles. Share other books if you have permission to share them and  share your own learning. Anything that you've learned, you can share, you can  teach. You're doing that already. If you're preaching sermons, that's a part of it,  but, but if there are things that you've learned and you know other ministers who may not have had the same opportunity share your teaching with them. You can  teach everything that you've learned, and you may even be led to write and  share your own books. I did this. This book, actually the three books I've written. I've done them through Amazon. I've self published through Amazon. I there's a  place called reedsy online, R, E, E, D, S, Y, that, for free, will take what you have written and you input it, and then it formats it into it, does all the typography stuff  to make it look good when it's printed in the book. Make sure you get somebody  to edit if you're going to write a book, and it is well worth the money to get a  professional cover, if you go on Fiverr, f, i, v, e, r, r.com, or other places, you can  find people who will do professional covers for very little, but I encourage you,  maybe not yet, but think about after you have some experience, or if the Lord  puts Something on your heart, publishing a book, writing a blog, doing social  media posts are wonderful ways to pass on what you've learned. And one thing,  there's a great need for children's material, especially in some of the developing  nations, write and share children's material for the young people in the  churches, pass it on. Well, I have been blessed to pass this on, what the Lord  has shown me over the last I was when I started writing it, I had been a pastor  about 30 years, and I ended up with 38 years experience, and that was a year  or two ago that I retired from the last one. So it's been a while, but I have been 

really blessed to pass on what God has shown me. And I would like to close this course with a prayer for you. Lord God, I thank you so much for this opportunity.  It is such an amazing thing to me, the technology that you have made available  

to allow us to share this training for free at the same time that you are bringing  such a move of God in so many parts of the world. I thank you for those men  and women that are listening to this and watching this and taking these courses  for your call on their lives, for whatever kind of ministry you were calling them to, I pray that you give them clarity in hearing from you, that you give them a desire  to share you, to know you better, to love you, to serve You, that You would help  them grow into the fullness of the stature, of the fullness of the measure of the  stature of Christ, and to help others do that. And I pray that all of them would  help see that you get out of your creation and every creature, all that you  intended for them when you created them, bless them with your comfort, with  your presence. Provide the material things they need to live and to carry on the  ministry, provide favor, provide wisdom, bring the people alongside the mentors,  and then, as they grow, the people for them to train and raise up, and we give  you glory and honor. And I look forward to meeting each and every one of these  in heaven, in Jesus, name Amen, God bless you. Thank you for being with us.