Wonderous Love: A Gay Pastor’s Personal Journey To Acceptance! A study for ALL people
Does love in a marriage mean only that your spouse never hits you? Is that all it means? Then why do Christians seem to think that merely refraining from coarse jokes will convey love to a gay teen or help him to understand what forgiveness really it? Oh, and the gospel is often followed by a caveat, sometimes longer and more strongly emphasized than the gospel itself, that proclaiming the forgiveness of Christ does not mean that we should cease to speak the law. It is as if pastors were fearful that gay kids who finally received and understood a little gospel would be so prone to sexual misbehavior that they might be in danger of immediately jumping in bed with someone unless hit with a still further dose of law.
As a teen all of these things together carried a powerful message: I must truly be an abomination, I thought. Am I Christian or am I gay? In which category do I belong? He has to know. Does my pastor see me as Christian or as homosexual? The world means anyone attracted to their own sex. But is it also sin just to have the desires? Are the desires sin too? Can you guess which verse gets pulled out? In so doing he has further separated that kid from the love of Christ. When, for instance, that kid reads Hebrews 4: Christ was, indeed, ashamed to be made like I am.
And now everything that pastors say about gay people and homosexuality much of which should not be said about anyone! Here I do have to give credit to Dr. Rueger in that he does make an attempt to the distinction between homosexual temptation and homosexual sin. To allow this little canard to stand in the place of the gospel is pure Pelagianism. Who can live without love? Many of those who prayed to be made straight began going to church, sometimes even without family encouragement or against family discouragement, hoping that praying from a church or that being active in church would make God more likely to answer their prayers which partially explains the 11 point difference between LGBT people who grew up in a religious community vs the general population.
It sounds like there are a lot of people like me, who were preached out of faith and convinced, out of LOVE of course, that God, or at least His people, did not and do not want them no matter how faithful or obedient they might strive to be. If you are a preacher, use your words carefully. I do not believe pastors want to preach same-sex-attracted kids into despair and suicide. There is really very little observable evidence that this is actually so.
Non-heterosexual kids are more than twice as likely to consider suicide than straight kids, three times as likely to attempt suicide, and four times as likely to make an attempt requiring medical attention. That same study also argued that LGBT people are more likely to have experienced sexual abuse in their childhoods and face far higher rates of mental health issues than straight individuals. Without addressing the methodology, which is highly questionable, you would think that if Christians were presented with evidence that a portion of the population is under this kind of stress, they would want to investigate and consider providing help.
And this in spite of the fact that bullying, thoughts of suicide, and depression are actually MORE acute among the Christian same-sex-attracted kids who are striving to maintain an orthodox view of Christianity than among the gay-affirming LGBT kids. He is much less likely to turn to his parents, may not have even told his friends, and certainly will not go to his pastor. He is, therefore, MORE vulnerable than the gay-affirming kid. You would think churches would be among the first to try and help. Yet churches all but abandon these kids.
So, although I believe most conservative pastors do indeed want to help and to minister to the kids in their congregation who are same-sex-attracted, that belief is based more on idealism than any actual evidence I have ever seen. If the LCMS is going to truly minister to same-sex-attracted people, this has to change. We are going to have to go much deeper than that. If the conservative denominations today want to have some say in the future of our culture and society then we need to focus on ministering to the sheep God has given us.
The weight our voice will carry is directly proportional to how diligently we care for our own flocks. And this is not only hurting those members. It is also emasculating our ability to influence our culture. As an example, think of a grandmother who has just learned her grandson is gay. Especially when the church has done very little to combat heterosexual abuses of marriage. The corollary is also true. Christ and His gospel win hearts and change people and, thereby, change the culture far more effectively than all the arguments against gay marriage in all the books written and published by Christian authors.
In fact, I know very few people who first repented of homosexual relationships and then came to faith. Sexual faithfulness is costly emotionally and spiritually. Such obedience can only truly be achieved through the gospel. Social acceptance, finding a mate and finding an accepting community are all greatly effective in reducing depression and suicidality among LGBT people. So how much influence pastors and conservative churches have on the culture and society will be directly related to the compassion and ministry they deliver to the LGBT people within their own walls.
Although I would attend a same-sex wedding and wish the couple well, for myself I need a church which maintains a biblical view on sexuality. Nevertheless, the fact is that all the gay-affirming interpretations of the Bible are simply unconvincing. They are based on faulty history and language studies and come nowhere near convincing me that God approves of same-sex intercourse in any circumstance.
If I cannot trust God to tell me the truth in His law, then how do I know He is telling the truth when He speaks of His mercy and love? Third, I find the liberal interpretations of the Bible just plain lazy. I find this approach very unappealing. Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, gay-affirming pastors can never truly understand nor respect my commitment to celibacy.
They may be able to comprehend celibacy as a personal choice. But not many are willing to support it as a response to a universal moral command, especially when the cost seems high and the benefit low. Let me say, however, that at this time in history, this is not a question of right vs wrong or good vs bad. That option simply does not exist.
Nor can I say that they are not saved. There is a huge difference between being mistaken and undertaking rebellious sin. Nor are my Baptist friends damned for being mistaken about baptism. All I can say is that the more gay-affirming position is not one that can minister to me. For me, the Bible is just too important for me to be able to put it aside for my own happiness or, even, my own salvation. It all comes down to this in the end, can the LCMS provide truly biblical and confessional ministry to same-sex-attracted people or not?
I believe God has called each of us to be pastors to the whole community. The pastor is called to be the shepherd of the flock to which God has called him, not to pastor an entire city or culture. And yet, even as you speak in your vocation as citizen, you are still a pastor and your first concern must always be for how your words will impact the members of your flock.
Gospel Voices in and for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
If so, however, he only quoted part of what I said. In fact, I use these terms, first of all, because a lot of people during the heyday of Exodus claimed to be cured from homosexuality when, in fact, they were still attracted to their own gender. In doing so, they created false hopes and expectations in people which, when they were not realized, caused a great deal of harm.
Continuing to perpetuate that lie does not give a good witness to Christ. I want pastors to understand clearly that there are same-sex-attracted member, often kids, listening to what they say and reading what they write. It will have exactly zero effect on their lives. The only ones who are reading and listening, who do care, and who will be impacted are the same-sex-attracted people who already agree with the pastors and already feel a tremendous amount of guilt and shame.
To them the pastor has applied law. Or let me make this a bit clearer. Again, let me repeat this: If you are a pastor, you have NO audience within the gay community. Your audience consists, first, of same-sex-attracted individuals within your congregation and, second, family members of LGBT individuals. Make sure you are speaking to those who are listening, not those you imagine or wish were listening.
Ministry to Gay People Must be Public: I suspect most pastors have considered what they would say if a gay teen came to his office for advice or spiritual counsel. Most ministry to same-sex-attracted kids comes in the public statements of the pastor in sermons, conversations, confirmation classes and blog posts where the teen can anonymously learn what they pastor has to say about homosexuality. One of the big mistakes I have seen pastors make, especially pastors who have a gay member and desire to deal compassionately with them, is that the pastor simply stops bringing up the subject of homosexuality at all or remains silent when it is the topic of conversation.
The pastor does not want to add more law to the burden the person already bears or drive them away from the congregation. But silence is not ministry. Gay kids DO want you to give them answers. They do want to hear what you have to say.
A Letter from a Gay Christian | The Daystar Journal
Being silent just leaves them to try and find the answers and help on their own. And that is not ministry. So pastors should speak about homosexuality in a public manner. The fact is that there are Gay Christians, people who believe in God and trust in Christ, yet find themselves attracted to their own gender. The concept that a person who is attracted to his or her own sex is either non-Christian or, in some manner, a lesser believer must be undone. The fact is that sexual temptation is always unnatural, whether it is a boy attracted to another boy or a boy attracted to a girl.
Neither is ever presented biblically as a good and blessed thing but always as a temptation to be overcome. Nor does Paul make the distinction between heterosexual and homosexual in Romans 1.
Brothels and mistresses were just as common as they had ever been in the Roman Empire. All else, including adultery and temptation toward sex between men and women, is unnatural and shameful. Even Song of Songs, the most erotic book of the Bible, pictures a relationship between two people who are engaged and, therefore, legally married under the laws of ancient Israel.
Yet our world, and even our churches, continue to glorify falling in love as a path to marriage. We hand our teenage sons when hormones are up to six times normal and decision making portions of the brain are not yet fully formed money and the car keys and encourage them to take their girlfriends out till late at night without supervision. And then we are surprised when teen pregnancies and STD rise rapidly among adolescents.
In most churches, the second marriage will even take place in the sanctuary with the blessing of the pastor. Sadly, this is not done. To be blunt, by the time gay marriage was legalized in even one state, it had already been so thoroughly degraded by the behavior of straight people, that there was precious little left of the concept of marriage to defend. And then what do we say to gay kids? Divorced people get remarried and, with barely a word of repentance for the lifelong adultery they are committing, they receive gospel, forgiveness and inclusion in the congregation.
But a same-sex-attracted person has to achieve celibacy before being given the gospel? I thought repentance was what qualified a person for gospel. But apparently, for gay people, that is not enough. Now, to be fair to Dr Yahnke, I suspect she was quoted out of context. Yet this misquote made it through doctrinal review and is on the official website of the LCMS! Is this now the official stand of the LCMS, namely, that for straight people the way into heaven is through repentance and faith but for gay people it is through abstaining from sex?
You should drop that gross thing and pick up a pretty cross like ours! And if a kid bears a more unpopular and difficult cross, maybe it is because he has a stronger faith rather than a weaker one. And if he winds up dropping it, maybe it is not all his fault and the church must bear some responsibility for making it heavier rather than helping him bear it. So until pastors and Christians begin to realize that heterosexuality is every bit as unnatural, every bit as much a temptation and every bit as sinful as homosexuality, the church will continue to be largely unable to intentionally care for same-sex-attracted members and the world will go its own way.
It is either temptation or, when acted upon, sin. I think, as Christians, we can, and should build up the concept that sexual desire has nothing to do with establishing a marriage. Falling in love is stupid reason to get married and, especially when it forms the major portion of the foundation for the marriage, it leads to utter disaster. Romance as the basis of marriage has been a huge failure in our culture. But it is not the foundation of the marriage.
Treat homosexual sins and heterosexual sins equally under the cross: I have heard many sermons quoting Jesus when He said that anyone who does not pick up his cross is unworthy of being a disciple. The fact is that every single one of the disciples to whom Christ spoke those words royal dropped their own crosses within days. And the rest abandoned Him. So when, for instance, a man like Franklin Graham scolds Christian parents for encouraging their kids to be friends with gay kids and invite them to church, the gay kid in your congregation needs to hear you confront the statements from Mr.
Franklin and those like him in no uncertain terms. What he said was evil and was from Satan, not God. When a man takes a gun and kills dozens of gay people in a bar, the gay kid in the congregation needs to hear you condemn such atrocities. Churches should be on the forefront of confronting bullying of gay kids, helping people with AIDS and showing concern for suicide and loneliness gay kids face.
Whatever love you show or do not show to those in the gay community is the love the same-sex-attracted kid will expect from you to him should he ever drop his cross. Avoid gospel that is not gospel: So ask, is the gospel you offer when you speak of homosexuality truly gospel? The three biggest mistakes I see when it comes to gospel are 1: Our Compassion is Not Gospel: But he makes the first mistake. He talks a lot about how Jesus loved people of his day, reaching out and spending time with sinners.
And then he writes a lot about how we as Christians should emulate Christ and show the same compassion today. He has some good things to say. But, as nice as it is to know that Christ loved tax collectors and sinners and as nice as it is to know that Christians like Dr. Sprinkle missed the middle and most important step. Yes, it can be inferred by the fact that Christ, during His earthly sojourn, loved sinners. The compassion of Christians to others can be a powerful witness to the gospel but it is not the gospel itself and cannot replace it. Yet too many Christian pastors, leaders and authors seem to think that being compassionate is the same as applying the gospel.
Maybe they do mean it when they say love motivates them to give the Law. And when we let our compassion stand in for the love of Christ, we have failed to present the gospel. It seems this attitude has become quite common and is most evident in the results of the task force on sexuality. The law is proclaimed and supported in many different, specific and powerful ways. The gospel, however, is reduced to a statement or two that Christ died for our sins.
Strong law does not, in itself, produce strong gospel. The law does no more than what it is given to do.
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Strong law kills the sinner. That power is inherent in the gospel and ONLY strong gospel produces strong gospel. Only the gospel makes alive. For this reason, Lutheran pastors are to let the gospel predominate. Now, again, I think Dr. Now I suspect that Dr. Rueger is honestly trying to direct same-sex-attracted people to their local pastor and congregation, believing that there they will hear the forgiveness in many sermons and in the confession and absolution of the divine service. It can actually prevent the gay individual from hearing that gospel when it is presented.
I am certainly no fan of Dan Savage. I find him coarse and obnoxious. I was afraid that they would throw me out of the house. Now his parents were, in fact, very loving parents. Similarly, I hate Christmas. I see the red and green wrapping paper appearing on the shelves just after Halloween and the Christmas music blaring from store speakers in November. And I want to barf. Christmas is the worst time of the year. When I was a little boy Christmas was for me, like for most kid, the most exciting time of the year.
But then, in sixth grade, a new boy moved into our school, a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, and I had my first crush on another boy. It would not be my last. And suddenly I had a secret, an awful secret. Over the next few years I would find that I just could not make myself attracted to girls. I thought they had nice faces and pretty hair and smelled OK when you were near them. And no matter how much I tried, I just really did NOT want to see them with their clothes off, thank you very much.
But worse than that, I could not get guys out of my head. The thoughts other boys seemed to be having about girls, I was having about guys. Mainly I just knew I wanted very much to be around certain guys, to be held by them and to kiss them like I saw guys kissing girls. I was almost 8 when the Stonewall Riots happened in New York and homosexuality began to make the news. Somewhere around my freshmen year of high school the whole Anita Bryant vs Dade County controversy broke. At the same time Dr. James Dobson founded Focus on the Family and two years later Jerry Falwell established the Moral Majority, and homosexuality was firmly fixed as a political issue in the public square.
And everything they said let me know quite clearly that they were disgusted by fags and that I could never ever let anyone know I was queer. In response to the incredible guilt such messages engendered, I tried really hard to be a good kid. I figured my parents did not deserve to have a homosexual kid and they certainly did not deserve to have me make parenting even tougher on them.
I mostly got good grades. I never even got a traffic ticket. And there lies the roots of my antipathy for presents. Every Christmas mom would ask us what presents we wanted. And I went on a quest to find suggestions that would be expensive enough for mom and dad to feel they had actually given me something worthwhile but cheap enough that I would not feel guilty that they had spent too much on a gay son. The point is that the guilt of being gay can, and often does, create a barrier between the kid and the expressions of love from his parents.
And if they did truly know me, they would not love me. The same thing happens in church with the law and the gospel. The pastor pronounces absolution but the gay individual, though he may intellectually know that the death of Christ covers his sin, on a deep level feels that that forgiveness is for everyone else, for others, not for himself. It is a church in which the pastor and the congregation are to give you forgiveness as if from Christ Himself.
If your pastor and your Christian peers are not applying the gospel to you and for you, then it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to apply it to yourself. And yet, too often, because pastors do not directly give the gospel to same-sex-attracted members when speaking of homosexuality, gay kids are left with little option but to try and apply the gospel to themselves, often with disastrous results. So again, the gospel must actually be applied when homosexuality is spoken of.
God loves gay people. God gave His life for gay people and straight. So ask yourself, is the gospel I am speaking truly the forgiveness of sins and the love of Christ? Or am I merely offering human love and speaking about the gospel without actually applying it? It is true that forensic justification is the foundation of the gospel. But, often, in the LCMS we make the mistake of limiting the gospel to justification. Forensic justification, by itself is not the whole of the gospel either. I used to own a book by O.
I was always struck by Dr. And then the King Himself enters the high gates of heaven accompanied by….. Not much to show for the years of toil and deprivation, the cross, the grave and the lash. Kretzmann took the wondrous victory of Christ, the glory of heaven and placed it all in the arms of that lone and forgotten thief, whose name we do not even know. This love was for him, this victory earned for him. And then he bound that thief to the fellowship of the church itself in the long parade of sinners who would enter the same gates of life with the same prayer he prayed.
This is the application of the gospel because it draws the listener to see himself in that long line of sinners saved and welcomed by Christ while also placing each listener in the position of the thief, the receiver of the gifts and victory of the cross. I seldom see such effort put into applying the gospel in sermons today.
I see much effort and variety in the law, especially in the law as applied to same-sex marriage. We need to proclaim that the gospel is also life and love from Christ. In fact, it does not mean anything if it does not also establish a relationship in which God loves us. When I was a teen and feeling especially lonely, I used to imagine what it would be like when I died and how God would throw open His arms and welcome me to heaven with a hug. I stopped imaging that long ago. Not because I am less lonely but because I can no longer picture it.
I can imagine God letting me in to heaven, yes. But being glad about me being there? I simply no longer possess the capacity to imagine anyone, least of God, being able to rejoice over me. Yet the parables of Luke 15 are all about the joy of God over the returned sinner. He rejoiced that he is home. They call on their friends and neighbors to rejoice. Further, we seem to forget that the active obedience of Christ is also part of the gospel, just as much as His passive obedience on the cross. The author of Hebrews used the active obedience, Christ facing temptation for us, to invite his readers to the throne of grace.
Christ specifically chose to live among and defend sinners, tax collectors, the poor and the sick. Well that is exactly what Christ did and does. So same-sex-attracted kids need to know more than forensic justification. They need to know that God delights in them, loves them and wants them. People will always go where they are loved. Pastors simply need to be dedicated in applying that message when they choose to speak or write of homosexuality.
When I was seven, my father decided it was time for me to learn to ride a bike. I can really sympathize with Calvin in the cartoon by Bill Watterson, where Calvin envisions his bike as a monster set on mangling him. I agonized over that bike all summer. I received a lot of bruises and cuts and one spectacular fall over the handlebars. But my dad insisted I get up and try again and again. As a seven-year-old I thought my dad was being pretty mean. And then two blocks. And then all over town. Now my dad knew something I did not.
He knew that once I learned I would have immeasurably more freedom to explore my world. I do not know why God says it is wrong to have sex with another guy. They are not at all convincing. It does not make logical sense that a boy should not fall in love with another boy or that man could not commit to sharing his life with another man. It is the same God who sent His Son to be born in a manger, to live a life of poverty, to die alone on the cross, to love sinners, and who welcomes His children into heaven.
And knowing Him, knowing He is both loving and wise, I am willing to give Him the same trust I gave my dad. In this life, here and now, what I see are only the bumps and bruises. But I do trust God knows what He is doing and that, in the end, doing as He asks will either benefit me or, in some way be an immeasurable blessing to someone else.
Pastor Harvey’s new book: Wondrous Love
So, trusting Him, I choose to obey. But that obedience can only come as a response to the gospel. It can never be divorced from it. So also Paul calls his readers to sanctification. Yet he always goes back to the gospel to do it. So do be willing to call us to costly obedience. We want to know that our choices mean something and that our sacrifices are known and precious to God. But we want to know this through the gospel because only in the gospel can we receive faith to follow where God, through His Word, will lead. Since you must send us through valley of the Shadow of Death and all privation foreshadows death then send us with the Shepherd whose rod and staff may comfort us.
The suggestions I have made so far take little long term effort. They are mostly a matter of pastors being aware of what they are saying and how it is heard by LGBT kids in their congregation. It can all be done fairly quickly through changes in how we talk and communicate about homosexuality. The last two things I will ask, however, are much more complex and require fairly significant effort on the part of the pastor and the congregation. If gay kids see their pastor discussing these issues, at least it will send the message that he is aware of their needs and is interested in helping.
And choosing to be celibate is not merely a matter of avoiding sex. How does one make friends with other boys when those boys are also the ones he is attracted to sexually? Straight kids have role models to guide them through the differences, often subtle, between interacting with girls and interacting with male friends.
But what does the gay, celibate Christian kid have? In confirmation class and youth Bible studies, when the subject of sex comes up, the pastor or youth leader affirms his empathy for the straight kids in the class, sometimes with a joke or two. But when homosexuality enters the topic, the whole tone changes. At the end of the school day we would often walk home together and I would wave goodbye to him at the bottom of his drive way. But for me, the most friendship I allowed myself was while walking to school and back. There is little written affirming the black Christian gay community.
Get the books, get free of a bondage not from God. It takes courage to be willing to be wrong, especially about theological or social issues; I know this from my own advocacy work. She has a tragic story.
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Although the effective story telling does evoke empathy, it also unfortunately paints a picture and strongly reinforces destructive myths and stereotypes: Lacking understanding, the chapter should have been omitted entirely. The brain says the person is one gender and the body presents as the other sex. There will be an internal struggle to align the two to achieve emotional health. I listened and learned. I have used this same wisdom while coming to know and advocate for transgender people.
Understanding and empathizing with the transgender community can be a long journey. In that lack of relationship, we unfortunately default to stereotypes; and in his book, Kurek was no exception. Over and over, the transgender community is shut out and misunderstood. In shining a more positive light on some lesbian, gay and bisexual people, the book reinforces the wrong, destructive and hurtful myths held so strongly about the transgender community.
Even after hanging out with gay and lesbian friends, it was almost five years until I met a gay or lesbian Christian. If you are non-affirming, you will get all those nagging questions answered — when did they know? Reading these many varied stories from both men and women in various age groups and from differing denominational background, you will at least come away convinced that you are indeed reading stories filled with the love of Jesus and struggle to battle the messages the church so clearly gives—you cannot be both gay and Christian.
The myth of that will be broken by the time you invest in lives of strangers opening their hearts for your consideration. Interspersed are blog posts by John Shore. There is surely insight here, but the overwhelming value is the personal stories. Go meet these people and then start your own real-life journey of listening to the LGBT Christians around you with a compassion that will grow. Growing up and into their sexual orientation when people often avoided the subject completely, each woman shares some insights that endear every storyteller to the reader.
Some women have experienced events of note adding to the depth of the story. This would be a good read for older women who lived through these times or even for a younger lesbian woman to connect to those whose lives were so different from today. The only drawback is that you will want MORE. More of their past, more of their story!
I would very much want to share a long weekend with these women to hear more and learn more. At the end of this easy and sweet read, you will come away knowing that some fine women struggled to make her-story for the freedoms women are beginning to live today. Nussbaum Martha Nussbaum is a professor of law, philosophy and divinity at the University of Chicago.
This book has strongly solidified my own understanding of how the Constitution, civil rights and emotionally charged human disgust intertwine. Nussbaum carefully, elegantly and compellingly builds the case for same-sex marriage by relying on Supreme Court and lower court decisions. Since reading this book, I have found that my own arguments in conversation and writing for same-sex marriage are greatly strengthened. Each chapter is carefully constructed to form logical arguments.
Nussbaum then deals with Supreme Court decisions having roots in: The touchstone cases for LGBT equality are dissected in a completely understandable manner and you will comprehend why each of these cases is important and pivotal. My copy of the book is marked up, highlighted and written it. I am an advocate for LGBT equality in the church and this book may have been the most significant book I have read in years.
It really does not matter in a legal sense what I believe should or should not be legal in the US, those decisions are made within the context of the Constitution and not the Bible. Christians may often think they can influence civil rights through their moral beliefs. In order to be both a good citizen and a Christian who is devoted to equality and justice for all citizens, it is important to follow the trend of what the Constitution offers in terms of civil rights.
Opposing the rights of others is neither Christian nor American. For those who are not clear on the progression of marriage as a civil right for LGBT people, this book might be a great primer to read so that you stop saying, frankly, absolutely stupid things in conversation. Moral assessment of people is not a tool by which you may withhold civil rights.
Imagine that happening while reading Constitutional Law? Nussbaum makes it understanding without dumbing it down and the logical progression is masterful. We were both amazed at her ability to build intelligent arguments from her background of law, ethics and divinity. She is a brilliant woman and excellent writer. I refer to it often. If you want to engage in discussions with credibility from a legal POV, get this book. You will be smiling while reading Constitutional Law, really, as amazing as that sounds, really.
Personal stories are powerful tools to help us connect with empathic ears and hearts that may be wondering or in the process of shifting. The treatment of the verses used to condemn gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are investigated in a manner easy for people to understand. There are more scholarly texts available to look at the verses more closely, but not everyone wants to sit and study for hours.
If you want a good, quick overview while reading the personal story of one gay Christian man coming to his own acceptance in God and with his faith, you will enjoy this fast read. One of the clearest, most easily understood reads on the subject of Homosexuality and the Bible written by a dear friend of mine, Pastor Romell Weekly. Romell was a married man, pastoring a church in St. Louis, MO when he decided it was finally time to research the Word of God in depth to see for himself what God says about the subject. How does sexual orientation and gender identity fit into Christian theology and culture?
Are people born gay? Does God bless same-sex unions? If you are struggling to reconcile your faith and sexual orientation or gender identity, or are a family member, friend, co-worker, neighbor, or spiritual leader of members of the GLBT community, know that God has provided the answers that you need. From Genesis to Revelation, Pastor R. Weekly uncovers the biblical witness. This riveting exposition will bring peace to your soul, and equip you to effectively minister to members of the GLBT community from a spirit of love and truth.
Helminiak, a Roman Catholic priest, has done careful reading in current biblical scholarship about homosexuality. This book is not an argument against Christian conservative viewpoints, but instead a guide to being Christian and gay. It focuses on how to strengthen your inner life and self-esteem as one who is loved by God regardless of what others have to say on the subject. Patrick Chapman Provides a thorough and scholarly rebuttal to arguments Evangelicals use against homosexuals and same-sex marriage.
Highlights the arguments and misleading information used by the Religious Right. Includes the latest science on what causes homosexuality and if it can be changed, and cultural evidence of same-sex marriage and families around the world. Also puts an anthropological twist on what the Bible says about homosexuality. Overall, one of the best books on the current debate over homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Very timely given the marriage amendments and debates.
A definite read for both gays and their families and Christians, and certainly gay Christians. But arising from the ashes of despair, he awakens to a new self-discovery of who he really is and has a new sense of self worth and importance. Anthony is also a very dear friend to me personally. Cannon writes from the position of a Christian who also happens to be gay and reconciles his gay identity with his orthodox Christian beliefs.
This interesting booklet goes to the heart of the matter by explaining the words which are so frequently mistranslated in modern Bibles. She asserts that transitioning is not what she wanted to do, for she was fully aware of the implications and consequences this would have on the most important people in her life, her wife of thirty five years and their three adult sons. One gets the sense she had lived her adult life putting everyone else ahead of her needs, that is, until she reached a breaking point.