For our next Living in the Tension gathering on Monday, February 10, we will be watching and discussing the documentary Out Late. The documentary highlights the stories of five individuals that made the decision to come out as LGBT after the age of 55. We will be meeting at 7pm in Room 124 on 5255 N Ashland Avenue. Once again, the forecast for the night is a little cold, but we will be sticking to it and hosting the gathering. Because of the weather, we... Read more
Do God’s instructions transcend the cultural contexts in which they were originally issued, or simply further illustrate the foreignness of those contexts from my own modern sensibilities? The answer, of course, is yes. Yes to both. Read more
The following post is written by our friend Candice Czubernat. Candice has spent the last 13 years studying theology and psychology, grappling with how homosexuality and Christianity can co-exist. She now servers as a web-based therapist and is founder of the Christian Closet, offering counseling sessions over the web through Skype, G-video and over the phone. Candice is also an advocate and writer focusing on issues such as faith, sexuality and psychology. The last time I went to an amusement park, I did the most un-adult,... Read more
The following post is by Jason Bilbrey, our Director of Pastoral Care here at The Marin Foundation. You can read more from Jason at his blog, www.jasonbilbrey.com “Discomfort over disengagement.” I penned those words last summer as I was developing the Culture War Curriculum for the Continuing Education Classes we offer here at The Marin Foundation. It was one of seven values I proposed for peaceful and constructive engagement across opposing world views. And it sounded really good. “Our tendency is... Read more
Warren Perry is a teacher and coach, Southerner and Yankee, sinner and saint living in the tension in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @CoachPerry03 or contact him [email protected]. Even though the holidays are in our rear view mirror now, there are still many lingering blessings that we can take from the season as we fully engage this new year. While I didn’t think much of it as a child, one of my favorite parts about Christmas now... Read more
Update: The Living in the Tension gathering scheduled for January 27th has been cancelled due to cold weather forecasted for the night. Mark your calendars for the next gathering on Monday, February 10th. For our next Living in the Tension gathering on Monday, January 27, we will be watching and discussing the documentary Out Late. The documentary highlights the stories of five individuals that made the decision to come out as LGBT after the age of 55. We will be meeting at... Read more
For what has become my favorite annual competition, five years ago a group of friends and I created a book reading competition–victory trophy and all. In the calendar year, our competition tracks the total number of books completed and the total number of pages in those completed books. I didn’t start ranking the books I read until a few years ago (you can see my year-to-year rankings here, here, and here). The only qualification is that the book didn’t need... Read more
Check out the 13 most viewed posts in 2013 on our Love Is an Orientation blog! Topics range from a man's wife coming out, to the United Nations, to big news from pastors Louie Giglio and Steve Chalke, to the major LGBT news of 2013 with the rulings on DOMA and Prop 8, and Exodus International closing. Read more
In my time at The Marin Foundation, I've talked to many, many parents about the series of conversations that these words spark, like the pistol shot that signals the beginning of a grueling marathon. And the two phrases that I hear most often are these: "it felt like my world had been flipped upside-down" and "it felt like a death in the family." I think these statements speak to the fact that it's a grieving process. Parents often feel a very real sense of pain and loss when their children come out to them. And that makes sense. Read more
Jesus did say, “Go and sin no more.” The often forgotten fact is that it was only Jesus who said that, prefacing it with “Ye without sin, cast the first stone.” In a story that is all about not throwing stones because we are all sinners, we’ve identified with God. No wonder we are missing the point! It wasn’t until everyone else left that Jesus privately spoke with the woman and said, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Our human tendencies make us want to be that seminarian student, standing up to condemn each other. But that is not the model Christ left for us. We must leave room for the Holy Spirit to do Its job. The model that was left for us is one of reconciliation, not condemnation. Read more
Love is an Orientation
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