Tell me what you will do if a gay brother visits your local church this Sunday, comfortably sitting on the front row pew, going through the hymnal with a weave on, over his head; basking in pink makeup, in the most holy, sanctified, glorified place; highly electrified with passion for worship, by the saints? Will you change your sermon, Mr. Preacher? Will the choir be able to function, hitting the right notes at worship, will he be allowed to introduce himself, and will he affect the flow of service, and will the church hug him after the service?

PAUSE AND REFLECT! “Jesus encountered all kinds of people in His earthly ministry, either unplanned or on purpose. In those moments; face to face with the good, the bad, and the ugly, the result was always awesome and glorious. The joy of finding that which was lost, was always written like graffiti, on the walls of His heart and face”.

1-3 By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story. 4-7 “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.( Luke 15:1-7 MSG)

WE ARE TO ACT SHREWDLY… It is about time the Church acts shrewdly as serpents, crawling through tight spaces, to reach the unreached with the venom of the gospel of God’s grace. Complaining and grumbling to God, in our prayer revivals about the dip in morality within our culture, is not the solution. Jesus armed His disciples when He sends them to preach the gospel. He said; “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matt 10:16) Friend, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We are the ambassadors of Christ; representing Him here on earth, as He works through us, reconciling the world to Himself. (See 2 Corinthians 5:18-20) Every moment of our life here on earth, should be lived with the readiness and the consciousness to delve into the heart of God, as we download wisdom and strategies to connect with people, with the sole aim of winning. No fisherman will see a cluster of porcupine fishes and wonder if it’s necessary to cast the net.

FREE FROM PHARISAIC SYNDROME…There is a spirit of Pharisaism holding the true identity and positive dynamics of the 21st century church from making greater impact in the world. Over the centuries, the work of ministry has suffered a great injustice, at the hands of those who claim to be the closest to God, as far as His redemptive plan, is concerned. In Jesus’ day, they were called Pharisees. They were Israel’s religious leaders who misrepresented God to the Jewish people and were also critical of those who fell short of their man centered traditions and beliefs, pass down from generation to generation. They portrayed God as a legalistic, rule-bound entity that required performance instead of mercy, regulations instead of grace.

The sad fact is that they even opposed God incarnated in the flesh as evil, for sharing meals with sinners and treating them as old friends. Those who follow them to the core, used their religious influence to make others stumble as they shoot them with the arrows of a holy passion, embedded in ignorance. Jesus loved the Pharisee as much as he loved the prostitute, yet they were a thorn to in His flesh. This Pharisee spirit in the 21st century church comes in different forms and shapes…there are those who are so over protective of a particular belief system of a denomination, they become blind to the lost sheep of God. Four walls of the sanctuary is their own small world; modifying themselves to the strict neglect of those who does not belong in that small family. It seems like it’s a church but in reality it’s a club…you can only share their God, if you pass your background check, with distinction.

We can be free from the prejudice and labels when we allow the Holy Spirit to redefine the true foundation dynamics of the Church of Jesus Christ. His Church was built on the revelation of His character…as Love. His love is the beauty displayed on the feet of those who bring the good news of His love to beautify the ugliest place of a man’s heart. (See Isaiah 52:7)

FACE TO FACE WITH A HARD CORE LESBIAN …I sit face to face with a hard-core lesbian, on the first Sunday of 2012 at my office. I wouldn’t have known what I would have done had she met me two years earlier. For sure, I would tell her to seek professional counseling. Thank God, I had met the loveliness of Christ Jesus in my heart a year earlier, which incredibly changed me 360 degree (I call my experience, born again, again into His love for me). For almost twenty minutes, everything about her outer disposition, didn’t matter to me…I kept telling her of how much God love her, without any sense of condemnation. Suddenly, she burst into tears like a baby, crying to the Lord to flood her heart with forgiveness and crown her mind with the peace I have shared with her. She was empty, wretched and lonely. To make a long story short…Jesus did changed her life by delivering her from twenty-five years of bondage. She later told me, she had the mindset that the church was very judgmental and unreceptive, because of her many experiences with certain believers. January 2014 will be her two years of a transformed destiny. hallelujah, Jesus saves!

YOU ARE THE SOLUTION… The boat is rocking on the sea of despair, with no rescue plan, going against the boisterous current, and many look with unconcerned heart. Who is in that boat…probably a friend or coworkers, a daughter, a son, husband, an uncle, a nephew or a neighbor? My friend, gays and lesbians have been with us, before the church of Jesus Christ was established. There are a host of them in the arena of the church today, breathing just like me and you, hiding in the crowd, condemned and bruised in the soul. The whole system and culture has just been repackaged and rebrand in the 21st century, to attract more consumers. Those who are in this prison are empty, lost, disoriented but afraid and uncomfortable to seek asylum in the arms of genuine brothers and sisters, as a last resort for deliverance. They sadly soliloquy; “will I become a punching bag from the holy pulpit” “Will my past be visited, Sunday after Sunday, from the lips of holy saints.

The Church of Jesus Christ is the only solution for this epidemic. We cannot sing come just as you are because Christ will receive you just the way you are, and treat people like trash. This form of hypocrisy, concocted out of our emotional attachment to a form of religion and dogma, is contrary to the principles of scripture. This is exact attitude expressed by the Pharisees, until Jesus shook their world with a culture of grace. Open your arms and embrace; heal the world with a heart firm on stepping outside of man centered beliefs. Don’t we need a reality check, as people of Christ? The Church of Jesus Christ is living the borrowed life of Christ on this side of eternity, to do the impossible. We are hands and feet of Christ. It has nothing to do with a specialty in human anthropology. We have the divine nature, to rise to the occasion. All that God need from us is availability. Let go and let God!

NO HUMAN ORGANIZATION HAS THE KEYS TO UNLOCK ANCIENT DOORS…No, Government, expert or group have the solutions for the old age gay/lesbian cancer, which is eating the very fiber of society today. The Church should stop complaining; “We don’t want it here, “It’s against our culture”, “It’s a taboo” and so on and so forth. Jesus did not just hang out with sinners because He wanted to know what they think or what was buzzing within the community. He was very conscious of the state of humanity…His plan was to stoop low to the undeserved, to intelligently touch them where they were ailing. Wherever He went, change was the result. Are we conscious of spiritual change, or we are preserving our holy dignity and man centered dogmas?

Government is like an Advil; temporary relieves fever and pain, but cannot uproot the heart of the ailment. They work through trial and error. The Church has absolute, ultimate reality solutions and answers, hidden in our born again spirit. It is unfortunate we sit at the corner of the room, expecting an organization or the government to legislate laws to curtail what we see as taboo. It baffles my mind sometimes, when I see ministers of the gospel, Bishops and spiritual leaders supporting legislation, to imprison or kill gay and lesbians, in certain parts of the world. Let us not forget that, condemnation keeps people in their shells, and kill them softly. Friend, I am not a gay activist; I am a staunch believer, in the ability of the Church of Jesus Christ. Through the power of Christ, we are able to transform the ostracized and the broken-hearted in society. We carry a message which has the potency to set people free.

CRAZY LOVE…What can change the isolated life is the crazy love of Christ Jesus, flowing through the hearts and hands of those who are ready for harvest. These heart wrenching beings, will break the chains of impossibility, and fill empty souls with conviction which is stronger, and greater than lust and lost identity. Father God, help us to love just as Jesus loved Mary Magdalene, and those who were a disgrace in their own family, nation and community, with the sole purpose to transform them, into your image. Arise; remove the religious lid from the fragrance of love nature you share with Christ through union, and unlock the hidden treasures of wisdom, skill and knowledge, hidden in Christ Jesus as you seek His presence for an awakening to righteousness. This manifold grace surpasses the experience of the expert, and the intelligence of the unregenerate. Make a difference for the kingdom of Christ.

– McDaniels Gyamfi