“You are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Uh, what!? Have you heard that? Had it thrown in your face? What in the world does it mean?? Who can be perfect? And is that a reasonable goal? No, it’s not. And it’s not what you think the verse means. “Perfect” in the original language means “whole, complete, fully matured, ripe, lacking nothing.” When you love your enemies (settle down about those you dislike or disapprove of,... Read more
“You have no idea how important you are to me. I will try and put it into words… I feel more like a woman when I am with you here [on FB] than any other person with the exception of my therapist. I never feel like a split or two people. You have always treated me with the respect of a sister … “ When my trans friend Joy messaged me this, I was deeply touched. And grateful. I DO... Read more
I don’t know about you, but I can get completely tangled up in uncertainty of what’s ahead and what the future might look like. Somehow, I’m guessing you do too. You may have discovered you’re gay, and you’re terrified of the implications: the reaction of your family, your church, your work. Will you be ostracized? Rejected? Who will love you? You may be a parent of someone who’s gay, and you’re terrified of the implications: what will people think of you? And your family?... Read more
I went to a dance recently, a contra dance, kind of like square dancing, where you change partners down the line. So one woman had to dance in the “male” role to even the numbers. My male partner and I had danced down the line with about eight people — him with women, me with men — and then I came to the woman in the male role, and I danced my turn with her. Her hands were so soft,... Read more
“[T]here used to be no conversation. Now people are talking about [LGBT issues] all the time, and the university can’t pretend that there aren’t gay people who attend the school… Although many of these colleges explicitly ban “homosexual behavior,” they are now home to dozens of LGBT-friendly student groups.” – Philip Francis and Mark Longhurst in The Atlantic I have talked to them, students at Wheaton, Biola, Patrick Henry and other campuses where homosexuality is strictly forbidden, where administrators tell donors that... Read more
“People need to know that Jesus loves them!” My beloved sister says this all the time. If someone’s hurting, or broken, or hopeless, Karin offers this simple but profound word for them — that Jesus loves them. For her upcoming birthday, I honor her ongoing commitment to a wounded world. Jesus Loves Me, This I Know, For the Bible Tells Me So We learn this as little children, that Jesus loves us. In fact, Jesus says specifically that only those with the heart of... Read more
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” I love my kids. All five of them. I can’t even put into words how much I love them. I was designed that way. So were you, if you’re a parent. To be on the outs with them would crush me. Many of my LGBTQ readers have parents who have rejected them. Shunned them. Kicked them out of the house. Sometimes the parents even have... Read more
You open the book, the words clearly say, ‘Rob stood up and said “Jesus Christ!”’ Was I cursing or offering praise? How do you know? This is Rob, Susan’s husband, writing today. There is no way to know, or to know the true meaning of what I said, and the heart behind my words, if you do not know my motivation for saying it, my audience, and the culture in which I said it. But you could go around saying,... Read more
Just because things are not going your way … Just because people are being mean to you … Just because people say nasty things behind your back … Just because you hit a rough spot … Just because you are distracted to the point of insanity … does NOT necessarily mean you are doing something wrong. In SOME cases it can mean you are doing something VERY RIGHT and obstacles are being thrown in your path to slow you down... Read more
“What if instead of trying to defend our religious rights, Christians concerned themselves with siding with others whose rights are routinely trampled? What if instead of trying to legally make life more difficult for gays, we worried only about how we could affirm their unsurpassable worth in service to them? … What if we just *did* the kingdom?” Greg Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation Sounds a whole lot like Jesus, here. Sounds like what he told us and... Read more
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