On May 13, 2014, I, along with hundreds of others, traveled to Richmond to stand either in support of traditional marriage or (as they say) “marriage equality”. Why does someone who is close to sixty years old take a day off from work and on a beautiful spring travel over two and a half hours? I finally awoke from my slumber and realized, if not me then who? So for this day it is me! But then it is not about me, it is about what God has called you and me to do.
I was called upon to help encourage others to travel to Richmond, and that I did. I am grateful for those who did the same. It has been reported that the traditional marriage turnout was five times bigger than the same sex marriage turnout. I am grateful for the police officers who worked the event to keep us safe, and safe we were. I watched my very own pastor tear up in sadness over those who have bought the lie of “marry who you love”. Great sound bite! Marry your same sex partner … marry your same sex partner plus one. That makes a “trouple”. Marry your daughter; marry your sister; marry your dog, horse or any combination one can imagine.
So to the many hundreds who were called to stand and pray for marriage, I applaud you for doing so. There were a few called to sit and pray in the courtroom. Cathy reported from the courtroom:
“I am a night owl so getting up at 4:30 a.m. was a challenge but by God’s grace, I was able to get some sleep and be up in time. Wendy, Marsha and I had determined we would go extra early because we had been told that the opposition had planned an all-night “vigil”, and we wanted to make sure we were able to get good seats in the courtroom. There was no evidence of any significant all night “vigil” by the opposition – praise the Lord.
And good seats we did indeed obtain. Wendy sat in the front row of public seating; she was the watchmen on the wall – quietly assessing the battleground before the battle began, fraternizing with the those sold out to the lies of the enemy, Satan, allowing her sweet presence to permeate those she met by showing the love of Christ. Marsha and I sat behind Wendy; we bowed our heads and began to pray in earnest unconcerned about what others might think. The anointing was on us, and the prayers just flowed for almost two hours. We felt the presence of God and believed God was hearkening to our cries, dispatching angels and binding up Satan in the heavenly realm while working on the hearts, minds and souls of those present in the room.
It was a real privilege to be in the actual packed courtroom praying before the Marriage Amendment court hearings began and sensing that God had planned that day before we were born – that as Commander in Chief he had decided who would be His feet on the ground in this spiritual battle. It was fun to meet fellow soldiers in God’s armies and to share strategies for prayer. And during the proceedings to be able to pray specifically, i.e. ‘Lord, please give this lawyer utterance …’ and generally, ‘Lord, please arise …’ in the courtroom was a blessing.”
One of our State Delegates made the observation that after only one hour of arguments, three judges will determine the outcome of the Marriage Amendment that took our legislators three years and hundreds of hours of debate and scrutiny passing both the House and the Senate and finally garnering 1.3 million voters who said yes that marriage is defined as between one man and one woman.
I refuse to be silent on this issue. I do not hate gays, and nor do I treat them differently. I do disagree with their position on marriage. Through the years, I have heard the question how will homosexual marriage affect my heterosexual marriage? All you have to do is pay attention to the news that is occurring more frequently. I believe we will see more and more legal, economic and social discrimination against those of us who believe in traditional marriage. Just ask the baker, the florist, the photographer and more recently the CEO of Mozilla, a player in the NFL and the Benham brothers. No, I am not a homophobic bigot just because I disagree with their view of what marriage truly is. I urge each of you to seek the Lord and report for duty! We cannot sit on the side lines any longer.
Please pray for the Federal Appeals Court Judges who will make this decision:
Hon. Robert Gregory
Hon. Paul Niemeyer
Hon. Henry F. Floyd