Back in 1993 I was desperately looking for Christian music with some real “meat” in the lyrics. Ever since Keith Green died tragically in a plane crash, Contemporary Christian music was not meeting my needs for songs with a punch that really communicated either the Bible or principles of Christian living.
In this time period I found and came to deeply love the songs of Steve Green, Dallas Holm, John Michael Talbot and Ray Boltz. That which was common in these great Christian musicians was their obvious love for the Lord and their lack of fear in singing the truth of God’s Word even if it meant not selling as many records than if they watered down the Gospel.
I was particularly intrigued by the music of Ray Boltz. His words were like listening to a story being told, especially his ballad “See the Lamb” which I have always loved dearly. I remained a fan of Ray for years as his music styled changed and his ministry changed course. I was very glad when he produced a new CD back a few years ago, for it had been awhile.
The news yesterday that he announced he was gay and happy hit me like a ton of bricks. If there was one thing I never in a million years would have thought would come out of his mouth, it was that he was gay. Even typing these words make me cringe. Knowing his conscience is seared with a hot iron and that he has no plans to “repent” or re-think his lifestyle change makes me sad, with unspeakable sadness.
People “blow it” everyday. Some of the sins committed by well known Christian leaders and entertainers are really bad. But this one takes the cake. I can think of nothing a person with the influence Ray Boltz has could do to drive a wedge among Christians faster than to make his announcement. The battle between “gay and straight” Christianity has been heating up anyway. Ray’s announcement only serves to push the issue over the cliff.
For a man with the upbringing and ultra conservative roots that Ray Boltz has to somehow come to the conclusion that something as Biblically deplored as homosexuality is justifiable in his case is equal to a Christian leader being caught snorting cocaine and then he say it is allowable for him. Or what about the Pope getting caught in a relationship with a nun and him telling the world it is allowable because he is the Pope.
It is truly sad that so many Christians are rallying behind Mr. Boltz as if he is a victim. This putrid worldly behavior is sickening. Let us call a sin a sin no matter who commits it. People can debate whether homosexuality is a sin all day long, but as long as the Bible is to used as the standard for what is sin or is not; there is no issue—homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible.
People must live with the choices they make. Ray Boltz must live with the choice he has made not only in this life, but also in that which is to come. He must live with knowing that the vast majority of people he blessed with his music, myself included, now have a bitter taste in our mouths and will not be able to listen again to him without the taste of bile surfacing.
I will pray for all involved as any Christian should. God help us all.
Amen!!!!!! My son-in-law did sound for Ray a few years back and so my daughter and grand-daughters got to know Ray fairly well……they are shocked and dismayed by this ……it is sad that a person can be sooooo decieved … I have been on the website for the church that Ray is going to be singing at and I really don’t understand where they get their interpretation of scripture from………I looked into the scriptures and found the greek/hebrew and emailed them what I found………I also pray that Ray will find the Truth of Jesus Christ to be real in his life ……….amazing how satan decieves people but we shouldn’t be surprised……….it is fortold in the Bible..!!!
Which is stronger: evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work throughout Ray Boltz’s life, or the evidence that your understanding of God’s will is correct on this issue?
It’s not like the church hasn’t been wrong on big issues before. I hope this revelation causes some Christians to consider if maybe this is another such issue.
the bible is the truth homosexuallity god hates he destroyed sodom and gommorra. and los angeles will fall in and be at the bottom of the ocean
Well since you were such a huge fan of Ray’s, it might be good to know that the title is “Watch the Lamb” not “See the Lamb”.
Also, you might want to pull your head out and quit this feigned outrage that a homosexual is a Christian…and made music! OH MY! (CLUTCH PEARLS). Closeted gay people are so prevalent in the evangelical/conservative/fundamentalist church that on Sunday morning the pews would be a lot emptier if they had the courage to come out.
But instead, they keep their mouths shut, lest it cause your acid-reflux to act up.
Pitiful, the whole bunch of you!
Jesus had some harsh words for people such as yourself. As far as homosexuals, he didn’t say a word.
even nature tells you it is wrong. in the beginning God created adam and eve not adam and bob
For Jon-Marc and others who do not know the Word of God, here it is:
1 Corinthians 6:9-11, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers now swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” It goes on to make it plain……
1 Corinthians 6:11, “And that is what some of you WERE. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Romans 1:18-32
God’s Wrath Against Mankind
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
And from the Old Testament, I know I do not need to recount the destruction of Sodom (where we get the word sodomy) which God destroyed for homosexuality. Sodomy is severely condemned in God’s Word. The men of Sodom were so vile, they lusted after the male angels God sent to deliver Lot and his family. Read all of Genesis 19. I will not quote it all, as you can read it. Genesis 19:4,5 says, “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom-both young and old surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” Ge. 19:10-13, “But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so thaey could not find the door. The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here- sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”
You can read what happened it was destroyed completely.
Lev 20:13, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both have done what is detestable. They must be put to death. Their blood will be on their own heads.”
You may also read Dt. 23:17, 1 Ti 1:8-10 and especially 1 Cor. 6:9 and Romans 1:27
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.” Mt. 24:35
Thank you Cascille for setting the record straight from the Word of God on this matter. You can argue with me and others like me all you want; but we did not write the book. Almighty God is the one who has set up the rules not us. Try as man may to twist and turn the Scriptures to read the way he wants them to read he cannot unsay what God has said.
It is absolutely appalling to me that this should even be an issue within Christianity. It only is a reflection of the degree the world has corrupted the pure doctrine of God’s Word. This battle should be reserved for those who do not know God and who want to waste their time arguing about whether homosexuality is genetic or not.
Either God’s Word is the final authority or it is not. For some of us, no matter what we are called and no matter how much we are hated and despised; the Word of God is the Will of God. Period and end of the story.
Ok, I used to listen to ray boltz, dc talk, steven curtus chapman and other christian artists…. I know for a fact that each one of them have sinned in the eyes of God. How can we say we still can’t listen to Ray Boltz anymore. Are you saying that you are perfect? God specifically talks about this when he says in Matthew 7:3-5, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” If anything, we need to listen to his music more because God is the only one that is going to be glorified in this circumstance!
“No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannnot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” 1 John 6-10
“The man who says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4
“But if anyone obeys His Word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:5,6
“without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrew 12:14
“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” Romans 6:18-23
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside of his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Cor. 6:18-20
God’s Word gives principles and guidelines with regard to discipline of pastors and leaders. “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.” 1 Tim. 5:19 In this case it was his own admission and that without repentance. God’s Word goes on to make it plain, “Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so others may take warning.” 1 Tim. 5:20
“In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ” John 3:3
“And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” 2 Tim. 2:24-26
Any message that does not come from the Lord Jesus and does not carry with it a fervant call for holiness and for godliness is a different gospel than that presented in the New Testament. “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15,16
See: Lev. 11:44; Eph. 1:4; Rom. 12:1; Eph. 2:10; 1 John 3:2,3; Heb. 12:14; Gal. 5:16; Gal. 22, 23,25; Col. 3:10; Tit. 3:5; 2 Peter 1:9
“Who have been chosen according to the forknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” 1 Peter 1:2
Warning Against Falling Away (Yes, it is in there, too…)
“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace.” Hebrews 6:4-6
See also: Hebrews 6:7-12
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgements about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgement.” 1 Cor. 2:14,15
For those interested in two studies of Scripture from two different view points o homosexuality…
http://www.gaychristian.net/greatdebate.php
For those interested in a conservative’s thoughts on the topic for no particular reason…..
http://tomhypes.com/2008/05/28/homosexuality/
What a sad situation with Boltz. I do hope the Christian world will pray for him and also exhort him. Remember that we are called to exhort one another when we see a brother in sin. Here’s a fictional conversation between Ray Boltz and Jesus…
http://shawnbarr.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/ray-boltz-talks-to-jesus/