Strong Language

Last updated on: November 8, 2013 at 9:34 am By Andrew Marin

The following post is from Brent Bailey, a Master of Divinity student at Abilene Christian University. You can find his blog at oddmanout.net Let’s talk about strong language. I grew up in a household that prohibited the use of profanity. My parents established and modeled a certain vocabulary standard, and though they enforced it graciously, the list of unwelcome words was thorough. The effect of that ban on obscenities was powerful: Whenever one of us did let a four-letter word (like “butt”... Read more

Gay Marriage Passed in Illinois

Last updated on: May 22, 2014 at 11:32 am By Andrew Marin

The following post is written by Andrew Marin, President and Founder of The Marin Foundation I’ve lived in Illinois my whole life (well, except for the past two and a half months while in St. Andrews). Illinois is where every word of Love Is an Orientation was lived in real-time. And last night, after a few failed attempts over the past year to secure enough votes in the Illinois House of Representatives for the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act... Read more

Why you should attend your gay loved one’s wedding

Last updated on: May 22, 2014 at 11:33 am By Andrew Marin

One of the most common questions I’m asked as the Director of Pastoral Care here at The Marin Foundation is about going to gay weddings. “Am I allowed to go?” “Will the couple assume that I approve of their union or same-sex marriage in general?” “Will my church friends?” My answers to these questions are–respectively–yes, no, and possibly. But my advice is always the same: Go. Read more

Living in the Tension Gathering – Nov. 4

Last updated on: November 1, 2013 at 8:55 am By Andrew Marin

For our next Living in the Tension gathering on Monday, November 4th, we will be talking about marriage. Rather than a discussion about our views on the legal, moral, and human rights topics surrounding marriage for gay and lesbian individuals, we will be talking about marriage in a more general sense. This conversation will lead into discussing our thoughts about the topic of divorce. We will explore questions such as: What is marriage and why does it exist? If you... Read more

The Cover for My New Book

Last updated on: October 30, 2013 at 5:42 am By Andrew Marin

Here it is! You can read the description here. I’ll be posting some great promotional opportunities soon (and by “great” I mean get the book in-advance for FREE!) #OurLastOption Much love. www.themarinfoundation.org Read more

Failure of the imagination

Last updated on: October 25, 2013 at 9:39 am By Andrew Marin

This post is by Melinda Guerra, Admin Assistant here at The Marin Foundation. “The sooner you are dead the better.” He couldn’t see her in the darkness, but there were plenty of faces he could remember from the old days which fitted the voice. When you visualized a man or woman carefully, you could always begin to feel pity… that was a quality God’s image carried with it… when you saw the lines at the corners of the eyes,... Read more

Jesus Shows How Arguing the Bible With People Is Pointless

Last updated on: October 23, 2013 at 12:00 pm By Andrew Marin

In Matthew 4:1-11, Satan temps, tests, argues, debates, whatever you want to call it, with Jesus to try and use God's own words against the Son. We all do this in one way or the other, well intentioned or not, because we're all working through our own lens of interpretive correctness. This structure lends itself to engaging in theological debates through quoting verses we already have a high-level of buy-in, and believe strongly in, as our baseline justification for the potential of the other's worldview conversion. It doesn't work. And it's pointless. Read more

The ‘Other’ As Examen

Last updated on: October 23, 2013 at 10:06 am By Andrew Marin

The following post was written by Kevin Harris, Director of Community Relations at The Marin Foundation. Lately I’ve been learning more about the prayer of examen, a prayer for detecting God’s presence and God’s direction in our daily lives as well as examining our consciousness. As I’m attempting to examine my day, I’ve found myself wondering about how information and events (particularly those that are negative) may be used to examine my conscience and grow as a person. I’ve been... Read more

Living in the Tension Gathering – 10/21

Last updated on: October 18, 2013 at 8:40 am By Andrew Marin

For our upcoming Living in the Tension gathering on Monday, October 21, we will be watching the documentary Love Free or Die. The film focuses on the story of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay person to become a bishop in the historic traditions of Christendom. It follows Robinson’s personal story as American churches debate whether or not LGBT people are equal to heterosexual individuals in the eyes of God while our nation debates whether LGBT people are equal to... Read more

“I’m Sorry” Memphis

Last updated on: June 20, 2014 at 8:21 am By Andrew Marin

The following post is from Jimmy Cornfoot, The Marin Foundation’s Director of Community Relations, Memphis. We recently finished the third annual I’m Sorry Campaign in Memphis, TN, and I am once again reminded of the importance of creating an opportunity for Christians in Memphis to engage with our city’s LGBT community. The invisibility of our city’s LGBT community to Memphis Christians, coupled with a lack of dialogue within our churches on issues related to the LGBT community, may be the... Read more