He's No Chicken: Honoring Dan Cathy's Courageous Stand

The wording of the title for an article in the New York Times, Chick-fil-A Thrust Back into the Spotlight on Gay Rights, reveals the covert roots of confusion that have expertly hidden the truth of this volatile issue for decades. Christians do not seek to exclude or suppress gays, but rather liberate all to the knowledge that the Word of God is the only absolute truth. For years, Christians have been labeled as “bigots” accused of being intolerant, anti-gay, and prejudiced. We, as Christians do not have a hate agenda against gays, we have a love agenda for God. Although Christians are facing aggressive persecution for upholding our beliefs, all you will hear from the media is how outrageous it is that we are oppressing the gays.

When we uphold our beliefs, it is not from a stance of pride, but from a place of humility for what the Word of God says. As we take a stand for Christ, we bow before His throne. Do not be deceived. The battle is not between gays and Christians, the battle is between you and God. We do not have to defend ourselves. Jesus did not defend Himself when hurled with mockery and false accusations. He simply said, “It is written…” If you choose to deny the Word of God, you deny Jesus, Himself. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Either you believe the Word of God is divinely inspired and that we are accountable or you don’t. I Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Do you not know what the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Dan Cathy, President of Chick-fil-A knows the power of the Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” In a recent radio interview, Mr. Cathy said, “As it relates to society in general, I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, “We know better than You as to what constitutes marriage.” It is interesting and apparent that the author of this New York Times article does not share the same fear of the LORD by the intentional usage of lower-case pronouns when referencing God in Cathy’s quote. The New York Times quote reads, “….when we shake our fist at him, We know better than you.” Whether realized or not, the attempt to redefine marriage is a form of idolatry. Idolatry is making anything other than God absolute. To protest against God’s definition of marriage is to protest against God Himself.

Many individuals that practice the homosexual lifestyle embrace their identity as “gay.” In other words, there is no delineation in their minds between what they do and who they are. This deeply entrenched lie has caused them to believe that they, as a people are suppressed and oppressed. However, Christians believe that all men are created in the image of God, and that our identity is in Christ alone. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Christians do not label individuals as “gay,” but rather separate the lifestyle from the person. We do not see ourselves as better than any other, nor do we condemn, for we are all sinners in need of a Savior. The passage in I Corinthians 6 that speaks against homosexuality goes on to say in verse 11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of our God.” How can one vehemently defend homosexuality if it is clearly a sin that requires one to be washed and sanctified? If you sincerely believe that gays have the right to marry, and yet you profess to believe in God, I implore you to do one thing. Simply ask God to reveal the truth to you by His Spirit. Ask the LORD, “Show me if I am wrong.”

Mr. Cathy’s courageous act of obedience should be honored and celebrated. I am confident that he knew that his faith-filled declarations would inevitably spark fiery persecutions against his name, his family, and his business, but he was willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus at any cost. He chose the narrow road. Thank-you, Mr. Cathy. May God richly bless and reward you for pleasing God rather than man.  

Please show your support to Mr. Cathy by eating at Chick-fil-A regularly, and write him a letter of appreciation. You can mail it to the corporate headquarters at:

5200 Buffington Rd
Atlanta, GA 30349

No Power in (our) Judgment

God has humbled me more and more it seems these past few months. And I know now that it is indeed a good thing. I have struggled with disappointments, and have asked God why is it that He seems to strip from me even the smallest and simplest of comforts. I have cried out for change, and yet it seemed as if things were only getting harder and harder.

Last night I heard a message that forever changed me. It was not an easy message to hear, and yet it was exactly what was needed to cause a paradigm shift in my way of thinking. At first, as I was listening, I admittedly was thinking, This isn't what I need! I have endured a hard season and I need to be rained upon with strong promises of refreshing, blessings, favor, prosperity, and overabundance. I decided I would listen anyway. After all, my way seemed to be getting me nowhere.

Prophetess Victoria started talking about pride. Again, I think, This message is not for me. Pride has never been a struggle for me. (If angels laugh, I am sure they did at this point). She emphasized that the only way up is down, down, down. Humility is the key. I contemplate, I have never been boastful. I am not arrogant. And besides, I feel pretty low where I am right now. I could describe to you in detail the floppy ears of every dust bunny on the floor.

She started talking about judgments that we all make. Judgments. Not in the limited, stereotypical sense. But jugdgments we make every day. She said whenever we think, "this is what another person thought or meant" or "this was the intent of the person's heart when they said this to me" we have judged! I don't know if I have ever been so convicted in my life. I do that all the time! I always just thought this is how I was created because I have an intuitive nature. The truth is when we judge another person's motives we are seeking to control, or to be like gods. Oh my goodness. Forgive me, Lord.

She continued, How have you judged God? She talked about the verse in Job 42:5, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees You." Job heard of God's power and might. But when he beheld the holiness of God, he was driven to repentance. Job 42:6 says, "Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." The darkness of our unholiness is sharply contrasted with the light of God's holiness.

Throughout my life, whenever I heard messages of repentance, I always felt grave condemenation and felt deeply accused by the enemy. This time was very different. I felt conviction without condemnation. I felt the holiness of God hover over me like a cloud of glory cleansing the filth of my heart and spirit.

She said if there are disappointments that you are still holding on to, you are judging God. When Job was afflicted, he was basically saying, "God, I know you can do this. You have done this for other people, but you haven't done this for me! Why haven't you?" The disappointments that we have not fully given to God become the accusatory voice of the enemy towards God. When we elevate our disappointments above God, a hardness of heart forms, and because we have judged God Himself, causing our prayers are blocked. Isaiah 59:1-2 says, 1 "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that if cannot hear: 2 "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have his His face from you, that He will not hear."

She continued...We must call upon Jesus to rescue us from our fallen state so He can forgive us, redeem us, sanctify us, and restore us....When we do not admit that we had a disapointment and act like we have it all together or that something does not bother us when it really does, we sew a "fig leaf" of separation between us and God. Wow. Convicted once more. There are times I thought that I had to act like I had it all together, never mentioning my struggles or disappointments. While it is true that we should not dwell on our disappointments, we must be honest with God when we have had one so He can rescue us from bitterness. I thought, God, I was disappointed when I found my Daddy dead on the couch and I believed that you sent me in there to call on Jesus to resurrect Him from the dead, and I spoke words of life and faith over his dead body, and he was still dead. I was like Job when I thought, God you did this for other people, why have I not experienced this? Why did I not see the miracle that I have longed for, prayed for, and believed for? Only God can lift that burden of disappointment. Yes, God, I have judged you. Forgive me, for I am unclean.

Deuteronomy 10:12-16 says,

¹² And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

¹³ To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

¹⁴ Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

¹⁵ Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.