Finally! A government steps up on the Anti-Gay Uganda legislation by threatening to cut the $50 million in aid that is given to the Ugandan government per year if this Bill is not withdrawn. Unfortunately, that country is not America, the most powerful country in the world. It’s Sweden! Way to go Sweden. I’m very thankful for this decisive statement. It’s time for the United States government to do the same; and I am puzzled as to why they have been... Read more
This is my new favorite song – it’s just so moving. What is My One Sentence Bible? 12-4-09: Prepare your heart for the Lord to answer you personally. Don’t always rely on others. Ezekiel 14:7 When the Lord blesses you with worldly successes, don’t start trusting in them and pimping yourself like you accomplished something. Ezekiel 16:14-15 Much love. www.themarinfoundation.org Read more
Last month while speaking in Cincy at the National Youth Worker Convention the Youth Worker Journal stopped me (coincidentally minutes before I had to be filmed teaching two classes for almost six consecutive hours!) for an interview to talk about what it means to have gay or lesbian kids in your youth group, and where the broader church can make simple changes that will make a significant impact for the Kingdom regarding the GLBT community – which in turn will also change the straight folks along... Read more
Don’t forget today’s Live Chat from 3-5pm CST. Also, tonight is The Marin Foundation’s next Living in the Tension Gathering at 5255 N. Ashland Ave Room 120 from 7-9pm in Chicago. Here’s how to participate in the Live Chat: -Click on the ‘Live Chat’ button on the top of the page -Type your question into the chat box at the bottom of the page (but make sure you ‘Copy’ it before you press send, because the first time you press... Read more
What you see below is a recent important development. A good friend of mine is a very influential person with connections to not only the Ugandan government, but The Church of Uganda as well (yes, I have been trying to work through them to arrange meetings to speak to the Ugandan leaders pushing this legislation through). My friend just sent me this statement from Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye, the Provincial Secretary of The Church of Uganda: “The Church of Uganda... Read more
A good friend of mine works for the William Penn House – a ‘Quaker Center on Capitol Hill’. Here is their definition of hospitality, and I love every word of it: “Our goal is to simply provide hospitality – a warm place where those gathered can share their hopes, dreams, visions. Among these are family and friends. We ask that people recognize that we do not seek to persuade people in any way. It is an exercise in hospitality – for us... Read more
It is well documented that I LOVE Chicago. As I have said in other places, you will have to pry my cold dead body from this city to get me to live anywhere else; no matter how horrible the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago’s governments are run. I take the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) everyday. I haven’t owned a car in the city since the year 2001 and I have loved every minute of it. I hate driving... Read more
What is My One Sentence Bible? 12-2-09: ‘The measures you use to judge others will be used to judge you’ is a very serious statement—life and death literally depends on it. Ezekiel 9:3-10 What you fear, and thus, bring against others is the same medium that the Lord will bring to awake you of your own actions. Ezekiel 11:8 This can’t be any clearer: God brings judgment because you “have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.” Ezekiel 11:12... Read more
This morning I got to speak at Wheaton College for Mosaic Initiative’s World AIDS Day breakfast. Here are a few thoughts I brought up: Within broader culture there needs to be both micro and macro pushes by the Christian community to make a culturally relevant impact on individual people as well as larger people groups. When we are willing to step out and do something different, miracles happen. But just how far are we willing to step? In today’s church... Read more
What is My One Sentence Bible? 12-1-09: If God individually told all of us in detail how we would be persecuted because of our belief, would you still publicly do His work? Ezekiel did. Ezekiel 3:25 Ezekiel didn’t just call the Israelites out, God said he had to bear their sin for 430 days lying on his side. So why do we complain again—God hasn’t asked us to bear even our own sin. Ezekiel 4:4-8 The Lord gives, and the... Read more
Love is an Orientation
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