"Where Are You Going?"

No one can take God away from you. Period. No exceptions. Regardless of what anyone tells you, there is no barrier between you and the Lord other than you--once you knock that down, it's down and no one else can put it back up. Being a GLBT person, unlike what many Christians want you to believe, in NOT a barrier. Here is an excerpt from a piece written for Whosoever Magazine by Rev. Vera Borne that relates her experience with that truth:

My life has been steadied by a backbone of faith that has withstood tremendous odds, and this I can attribute to the fact that from the age of four I knew God as a friend, someone to depend on, someone to trust and someone who loved me. The only time I doubted this was in my twenty-fifth year when those in my church informed me that God could never love me while lived a lesbian lifestyle, and would never hear, let alone answer, my prayers. They said I need to turn my back on these sins, marry, and then God would again look favourably on me.

It didn't take very long for me to realise no one could take away the relationship I had with God. There were no barriers to the intimacy I knew with God, they existed only in the minds of folk who believed God judged the way they did. If my relationship with God floundered it would be because I had shifted, not because God had moved away from me. Yet, even though this comfortable relationship existed, my soul ached for something more. I questioned those around me, and hammered at God's door for an answer, until I learned that these methods were mine and not God's. When I stopped asking, and began listening, things began to change. Instead of me asking the questions, Jesus presented me with questions that I needed to deal with.

Listening often seems like a lost art, but it is a skill that can greatly enhance our relationship with the Lord. After all, who would you rather listen to, Him or you? Personally, I'd pick Him, and people who know me will tell you I'm not uncomfortable with the sound of my own voice.

Click here to read the rest of the essay at Whosoever Magazine.