Encouraging Words 12/3/09-"For Such a Time as This

From Rev. Deborah Bell, Senior Pastor of Deo Gloria Family Church in Morningside, Durban, South Africa. We believe these words ring as true across the globe as they do in her home country.

In Esther 4:14, we read this: "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

In the book of Esther we read about how one woman saved a nation because of her passion to see justice. She risked her life to see the Jewish nation saved from the annihilation of those that hated the Jewish people. Just one person, yet she helped to save a nation.

Perhaps many of us have been born for such a time as this.

We may come from different backgrounds, in our faith, our culture etc. but we can surely stand together with the commonality of ensuring that our very new equal rights (for GLBTI people) are not compromised by homophobic polemics, who claim too much, about the very little they think they know, about who we are.

I believe it is everyone's responsibility as gay and lesbian people, to take a stand to protect the equality in our nation, regarding GLBTI people, which is very possibly at great risk with the stance of our newly elected President, who has publicly confessed his homophobic stance in the past. Along with him, we have Pastor Ray McCauley who has his own agenda to reverse the same-sex marriage laws, among other laws that he believes "fly in the face of God".

This saddens me, because what flies in the face of God, more than anything, is when the Church places conditional love on whom is welcome and whom is not.

The Bible states clearly, that all are welcome to throne of God. John 3:16 says: "Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord may come." Acts 2:21 "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

God's love is unconditional, and it is that love that changes people and nations, not human judgement.

Click here to read the rest of Rev. Bell's inspiring essay.