“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
A Dad in England kicks his gay son out of the house. A church in Australia shuns a family for supporting their lesbian daughter. A transgender woman is attacked in South Africa. Hate knows no geographic boundaries. A Mom in Canada goes shopping for clothes with her trans daughter. A Dad loves and stands by his gay son in Uganda. A church is open and affirming in Brazil. Love knows no geographic boundaries. We have been asked to do the... Read more
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein This post is inspired by a beautiful young man, whose family is constantly haranguing him and banning him from family gatherings because he is gay. As I listened to Jeff I thought, once again, This stuff just got real. Jeff, this is for you. Rats are smart. They can learn which tunnel in a maze will reward them with cheese. If you move the cheese, the rat will... Read more
Rules are the old Christian. And by rules I mean “any rule-by-which-we-always-find-ourselves-deemed-inadequate” is the old Christian. And by old I mean since before Jesus fulfilled the law. Love is the new Christian. And by love I mean complete, unconditional acceptance, embrace, warmth — you know, all the things Jesus did, even to those considered sinners by society and/or actual sinners- and especially to those marginalized and oppressed. By love I mean connection, community, relationship. By love I mean treating people... Read more
Ryan Robertson died five years ago this week. In his honor, friends and I have chosen an orange icon on Facebook – Ryan’s favorite color. And we honor all the LGBTQ people who have died from rejection, bullying, ill-fated “therapy.” Marginalization… in all its forms. Ryan is one of many LGBTQ men and women who were pushed out of churches that could not accept them as is. I share the Robertson’s story here, as they continue to share their story publicly — not to relive those horrible years, but because... Read more
More today from my Saturday “Jesus Blog” – a word from Jesus to you… Let me show you how to be with God. Exactly as you are. Not how to perform, or how to do – just how to be. Fully loved. At rest. At peace. Let me show you how to be with God. Let me show you how to be. Read more
Raj has a tenuous relationship with his mother. She is trying to love him, but her church is so adamant against gays, she has so much fear and so little capacity to discuss it. Their relationship has settled into being somewhat comfortable, and Raj really wants to share his heart and what God is doing, but mom seems to lash out at him whenever he expresses that. “Sometimes when Mom and I are talking,” Raj told me, “I will tell... Read more
“Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and you crack that wrist. Man up! Give him a good punch.” – Pastor Sean Harris, Berean Baptist Church, Fayetteville, NC Yup, that’ll teach ‘em, especially because nothing says “my son is gay” like a limp wrist. Dennis Leatherman, Pastor at Mountain Lake Independent Baptist Church, Oakland, MD used a sermon to talk about his internal struggle with his fleshly temptation to kill gay people.... Read more
“Jesus would be the first to toast the happy couple, the first to dance.” Those were my words from a post I did about not missing your gay child’s wedding. Then I got an email. I thought it was worth answering for others here on the blog who may have the same questions. The comments from the reader’s email are in italics and indented – my words are in regular type…. My heart stopped when I read that last sentence [about... Read more
“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in the United States is closely connected with this.” Albert Einstein They tried it – tried to ‘shut down sin’ by prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol. It didn’t work. On a... Read more
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