I'm Off to Get Married!

I won't be posting again until early next week because I'm going to get married Saturday. I'll be writing about that and the process that led up to me being blessed with the most amazing woman God ever created next week along with resuming my regular posting.

Reconciliation

Earlier this week I wrote about moving past anger. Here is an important reason why we should:

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NIV)--All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

We can not be part of a message of reconciliation if we are unwilling to do that in our own lives. It's hard folks, I know. The message Jesus brought to this earth is not an easy one to follow. Our sinful natures push back against it all the time. When we are angry with someone, we want revenge, we want an apology, we want a concession that we were right and the other person was wrong.

That is not a part of Jesus message to us. We are charged with seeking reconciliation in this world, not just to people who are nice to us or those who have hurt us and apologized. We need to take the lead in forgiveness, extend our hand, and open our heart to that individual.

Sometimes we suck it up and do this and don't receive the type of response we feel is deserved, then go away madder than ever. Jesus showed us by his very life that we should follow God's commands without expecting earthly reward. After all, how was he rewarded by man for the healing and miracles he performed in his time on earth?

Over the last few months, I reached out to two friends who I had issues with that caused us to stop communicating with each other. One of them, a very close friend from high school, reciprocated and healing has taken place without either one extracting a pound of flesh from the other. The other friend, who I knew through my late wife, initially responded well to my oveture but then drifted away again. After a couple of additional attempts to reestablish contact, I resigned myself to the fact that he was not ready to reestablish our friendship. I was saddened, but at peace because I had done what my heart had led me to do.

In both situations, I sought the will of the Holy Spirit and felt led to make the move toward healing. I'm glad I did with both people despite success with only one. A complete reconciliation with someone takes the willing and active participation of BOTH people. We can only do our part, but that's better than waiting on the other person.

As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, God has committed us to a message of reconciliation. If we are seeking his will in our lives, we need to seek it in every area.

This Message Is International

Thanks to a link from the Rainbow Ark Live Journal (check my list of links out to visit their site), this blog received a recent spike in international visitors, especially from Asia. Welcome!

When I began this blog on 6/20/05, it never occurred to me that I would receive many visitors from beyond the borders of the United States. Instead, readers have visited Straight, Not Narrow from 38 different nations! Just one of the many things I have learned during this process; the message of Jesus' love and inclusion is one that people hunger to hear all over the world.

I thank the sites based in France and Singapore that have posted links to Straight, Not Narrow. I'm glad you have found the material here worthwhile. As I add posts, I'll try whenever possible to view issues from a global perspective.

There are many false prophets spread out all over the world that would have people believe God hates them because of their ethnicity, social status, or sexual orientation. If you really know Jesus and don't filter his message through your own prejudices, it becomes clear that is not God's message.

Hate and exclusion are the message of the enemy. Love and inclusion is truly the heart of Jesus, and that's what you will find here. Thanks again for taking time to visit wherever in the world you might be. Please feel free to post a comment or e-mail me directly at straight_notnarrow@yahoo. The only restriction is that it must be in English--I do not have the gift of language.

Moving Past Anger

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." James 1:19-20

Yeah, yeah, I know--those words are easy to repeat but hard to put in practice. After all, if I knew what (fill in the blank) did to you, I would understand your anger and feel the same way myself.

What do we accomplish when we have anger built up inside our hearts? Possibly shorten our lives, for one thing, but definately diminish the quality of it. That's right, WE'RE the ones that get hurt when WE let anger become a part of who we are. When we look at the world through the filter of negativism, we don't make anyone more unhappy than ourselves. There are plenty of times in our lives when the target of our anger doesn't even realize we're upset! They can go about their lives as if nothing is wrong and we're the ones carrying the extra weight around.

We can't hear this message too often because it is too easy to let anger build up inside of ourselves and take away from whatever good we have in our lives. Even worse, it gets in the way of our relationship with God. Can we really open our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit if we're pissed off at our spouse/family/friends? No, because the noise of that anger will drown out what the Lord would tell us. He wants us to be still and listen--have you ever tried that if you're really agitated or your heart is just seething with anger? It just doesn't work.

I'm directing this to myself along with you the reader. I've had plenty of anger at people in my life, and I've held some of it for years until I realized I was the only one being hurt by it. Thanks to the work the Holy Spirit has done in my life over the past year, I've been able to let go of most of those bad feelings--it's still a work in progress.

I'm also sure that many of the readers of this blog have dealt with horriffic situations I have only heard or read about and never personnally experienced. I empathize with just how deeply some scars can run and how difficult they are to heal. They won't just go away, though, they need healing action taken to them. Talking to the person you are angry with can be a wonderful blessing. We have recently had some of those experiences at my church, and they have enriched the whole congregation.

Regardless of how deeply you have been hurt, the Holy Spirit can bring you through to the other side where you can know true peace and joy. That is available, free of charge, to every man and woman, regardless of denomination, race, or sexual orientation.

If you would like to speak to a minister or just have the prayer support of a congregation help you through to the other side of anger, you can contact Believers' Covenant Fellowship at http://www.imabeliever.ws/home.cfm. I'll warn you, if you ask our church for prayer, you need to be ready for it to be answered because we have some amazing prayer warriors there. If you would be more comfortable speaking with a lay person, you can contact me by e-mail at straight_notnarrow@yahoo.com.

There is far too much anger in our world today. Let's do what we can as individuals to change that.

The "Threat" of Same-Sex Marriage

If you think there's been a lot of focus in recent months on the issue of gay marriage, just wait. The fire is just getting warm and is sure to burn right through the 2006 elections. The latest chapter of this story was Wednesday's approval of a measure to establish a U. S. constitutional amendment baning gay marriage by the Senate's Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution. Ironically, the measure is named the "Marriage Protection Amendment."

I must once again ask who exactly are conservatives working so hard to protect? As a straight man only days away from getting married myself, I don't feel the least bit threatened by any same-sex couples that would like to do the same (unless they invite us to the wedding and want an expensive gift). If anything, my impending nuptuals make me even MORE supportive of their right to marry, to experience the joy and fulfillment of making not only an emotional committment but a legal one to the person we love most in the world. I see couples in my own church who are in long-term committed loving relationships that should have every bit as much right as I do to be recognized as legal spouses.

How exactly would the right of men to leagally marry men or women to legally marry women diminish my marriage to a woman? Going back to the early days of this nation, there has always been a faction who felt threatened by the granting of rights to anyone not quite like them, feeling that it would diminish their stature, their power, whatever.

At one point in our history, blacks did not have the right to be educated, own land, and vote. Women didn't gain the right to vote until early in the 20th century, when the U. S. was well over 125 years old. Arguements were made back in the day about how these restrictions were needed to protect society. We now hear those same justifications to support not legally recognizing same-sex marriage.

Despite the loud and well financed message of the anti-gay conservatives, I feel this too will pass just like other restrictions have fallen by the wayside over the decades and centuries. Despite the efforts of these right-wingers to hold us back, society gradually becomes more enlightened as time moves forward.

After all, Jesus' message was about unconditional love. Let's put our effort on promoting love. One way of doing that is encouraging people that love each other to make the firmest committment possible to each other.

Is This Fight REALLY Worth the Cost?

As I read about the results of various state and local election ballot questions the last couple of days, I was again struck by how many pertained to the issue of same-sex marriage. Knowing how out of control political campaigns can get, I did a quick Google on the words "cost, same-sex, and marriage." The first story I came up with was about an election last year in Ohio. The report in The Gay People's Chronicle in Cleveland was an investigate piece detailing where the contributions came from to support the group campaigning against same-sex marriage.

Without going into great detail here (it's all in the report), I can sumarize it by telling you that most of the money, not surprisingly, was contributed by religious, fundamentalist orgainzations to the tune of well over a million dollars.

How many people could have been fed with that money? How many poor children could have been clothed with that money? How many sick people without insurance could have received medical attention with that money? How many homeless people could have received shelter and perhaps even some vocational training with that money?

How would Jesus have wanted those funds, and the many millions spent all over the USA, to be used? Would he have wanted organizations allegedly acting in his name to wage a political campaign, or help those who are cold, hungry, and sick? Just a quick glance through the New Testament answers that question very clearly.

Perhaps some "christian based" organizations need to spend a little time reading their bible before allocating their resources.

Expressing and Teaching the Wrong Message

Thanks to 365gay.com, I ran across another one of those really troubling stories that I felt obligated to comment on. There was an anti-gay protest in Bloomington, Indiana that, although it did not involve thousands of people, demonstarted two very disturbing views.

As reported by the Indiana University student newspaper "The Daily Student," the group was comprised of about 25 members of the Old Paths Baptist Church. They gathered on the IU campus to begin their demonstration, them moved on to a gay-owned store called "The Inner Chef," and burned a gay pride flag.

One of the chants the group shouted in front of the store, according to the report, was "Fags Die, God Laughs." I only wish I was making up such twisted, sacreligious behavior. I challenge anyone to find one single example in the bible where God showed any pleasure at ANYONE perishing. There are plenty of situations in the Old Testament where He wiped out large numbers of people for going against his will, but the part where God laughed, smiled, or was anything but saddened by it didn't make it into any translation I've ever seen.

Perhaps the most basic principle of Christianity is that God LOVES us. He doesn't always like us when we drift away from his will for our lives, that's for sure, but he NEVER stops loving us. He is the epitome of unconditional love. In that light, hearing of a group proclaiming itself christian shouting what these protesters did in Indiana makes me sick to my stomach.

The other part of this story that troubles me even more was where it was reported that the demonstration was "complete with children playing instruments and singing songs beside the sign-weilding adults."

What ARE we teaching our children? This group is teaching them how to hate, and to do it in God's name. Sadly, there are situations where hate IS a family value.

Why I Am An Activist

This is the first time I have used that word to describe myself. Here's one reason I am.

It never ceases to amaze me how hateful and deceitful people can be in the name of God or "family values."

What is most troubling is how loud some of these voices are. That's why voices of love and inclusion must speak up. If we are not heard, then the only message people will hear is that of hate and exclusion. I'm not willing to have that happen, and I hope you aren't either.

"Promoting Homosexuality"

The title to this post is one of those phrases that makes me afraid I'm going to burst a blood vessel. The latest reference I saw to it was this news item from the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas, a group not known for their open minds. They unanimously passed a resolution encouraging parents to investigate whether the public schools in their areas are...wait for it...promoting homosexuality!

How does one go about promoting that in schools. Do they set up recruiting booths with women in leather boots and chains and men wearing pink chiffon handling out pamphlets? Hardly. Do activists walk up to students and say, "Hey, have you ever tried having sex with someone of the same gender? It's great!" Of course not.

What some school systems have the nerve to place in their cirriculum is a presentation of what homosexualtiy is. Since the teachings do not include an outright condemnation, there are fundamentalits like the SBC that get hysterical and act like the schools are encouraging their kids to be gay. How ridiculous! How narrow-minded!

What some school systems are valiantly attempting to teach regarding homosexuality is acceptance of someone different. You don't have to be gay to get abused in school--kids can be a very tough crowd--but it sure helps attract negative attention from students that don't know better. Some schools try to make sure that they DO know better. Unfortunately, this lesson of acceptance and inclusion can conflict with what they are being taught at home and in their church.

Some people can't stand the thought of their kids being smarter and more open-minded than they are. What a shame!

The Burden of Proof

If you can't absolutely prove something is true, then it must be false! That's one of the arguements anti-gay groups and activists put out there to support their view of the evil attached to homosexuality. What, you can't prove absolutely beyond the shadow of a doubt that being gay is something which is determined genetically? Then it MUST be a choice--a sinful, evil choice.

Now anyone who gives that more than about two second of thought should realize the falicy of that "logic."

What if a GLBT person insisted that one of these far-right fundamentalists PROVE they were saved, that they were filled with the Holy Spirit? They couldn't do it. It can't be scientifically proven that a person has received the gifts of the Spirit.

That's where faith comes in. In the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." That's really one of the main principles of Christianity, isn't it?

Unfortunately, though, there are "Christians" who won't apply the principle of believing what can not be seen (or scientifically proven) to something they don't want to believe. Even worse, they pass judgement on those who don't comply, assuming the right God has very clearly stated is reserved for Him and Him alone. With this kind of un-Christlike attitude, I believe if anyone would have something to prove, it would be fundamentalists who focus more on playing God than being like him.

Methodists Reject Lesbian Minister

In a widely reported story, the highest court of the United Methodist Church recently defrocked an openly lesbian minister. At the same time, they reinstated a minister suspended for banning a gay man from his congregation.

I find both of these rulings misguided, but there is one important point to make in support of them. I think it is critical that religious denominations be consistent in the administration of the beliefs they have stated as a corporate body. Therefore, if their policies state that lesbians are not allowed to become ministers, they have the right to enforce it. After all, there are denominations that won't allow women, regardless of sexual orientation, to be ordained or serve in other leadeship roles.

Similarly, if their rules allow pastors discretion over the congreations, something that seems very dangerous to me, then the governing body must uphold decisions made under those rules.

I join many christians, both straight and gay, in condemning those rules, as is my right. Members of denominations with rules that restrict (or potentially prevent) the level of participation have three choices; sit and do nothing, leave the denomination, or stay and fight for change within the system.

I know many christians chose the first option, often because they were raised in a certain church and don't feel comfortable either pushing for a fundamental change in the church's beliefs or leaving altogether. I don't have data to back this up, but I strongly suspect this is a critical factor in allowing such conservative policies to stay in place in many large denominations.

I chose the second option myself. I was raised Southern Baptist and converted to Catholocism, but now happily worship at an independent, GLBT-affirming congregation. At Believers' Covenant Fellowship, we are committed to reaching out to the GLBT community and let them know that God's love and salvation is available to them, regardless of what they have been taught over the years.

The defrocked minister, Irene Elizabeth Stroud, has chosen the third option and will stay with her congregation in Philadelphia as a lay pastor. She told the New York Times, "I, like many people, will stay and fight. I think these decisions are another step in a journey, and one day the church will receive gay and lesbian people into ministry."

My prayers and those of my church are with you, Ms. Stroud, and those like you.

Follow Him

The book of Matthew gives us another very clear example of how Jesus wants us to lead our lives. Jesus had healed a paralyzed man in Capernaum and came across a tax collector. In Jesus' time, tax collectors were even more despised than they are now. This entire area was under Roman control, and they stationed tax collectors in every town to make sure people paid proper homage to the Emperor. These men, who were above any local laws, often charged more than was actually due and pocketed the excess profit.

Jesus saw one of these loathed officials, a man named Matthew. In Matthew 9:9, he writes, "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Please take note that he did not go home and ask his wife if it was okay, he didn't give Rome two weeks notice, he didn't say, "I'll do that after football season is over." Matthew did none of that. He immediately realized just who it was calling him, and he answered in a decisive and immediate manner. Talk about stepping out in faith!

Jesus is calling all of us to serve him in ways appropriate to the gifts he has blessed us with. In my own life, I have often been guilty of putting off that call because of going to school, pressures at work, financial difficulties, and extra demands because of a partially disabled wife. I kept God at arms' length (unless I needed something, of course) for many years, and I was the poorer for it. Once my wife passed away and my life was stripped down to its basics, I heard Him still calling, and I finally listened. This blog is but one manifestation of doing the work He has equipped me to do, and I am being blessed by it.

I have grown to understand some of the additional difficulties members of the GLBT community have in reaching this point, often torn between a partner who is not listening to Jesus' call, estranged from some if not all of their family who are unable to accept them as they are, and shunned by the very church they would want to join.

Jesus never said following him would be easy, but He also assured us he wound never ask us to do anything we were not equipped to do. He also told us in Matthew 19:19 "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or childern or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."

We need to remove the obstacles keeping us from serving Jesus. Ultimately, we are the very ones who will benefit the most from doing so.

Take care of your own speck

As I am reading through the book of Matthew again, I have been reminded of several important principles Jesus spoke of in his ministry that I feel are very applicable to the mission of this blog.

In Chapter 7, during his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke passionately about people being careful not to judge one another. Beginning in verse 3 (NIV), he said "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Jesus wasn't being very subtle with this particular message, was he? It was about as subtle as getting hit with a 2 x 4 plank. It is very clear that He expects us to look inside ourselves first before we move forward with saving humanity.

Going around and telling others where they come up short is easy, isn't it? There are certainly no shortage of people willing to do so, that's for sure. Closely examining that face staring back at us in the mirror in the morning, now that's tough.

Jesus is the only person who has ever walked the earth with the moral authority to pass judgement on anyone. If someone in our lives is judging us because of our religious affiliation or sexual orientation, there's a good chance that they have their own issues to resolve with God.

My experience has taught me that the ones yelling the loudest about the spec they see in our eyes are often the people with the biggest planks in theirs.

One Person Learns to Unlearn

On his blog "Two World Collision", Eric talks about his struggle to unlearn the teaching and condemnation of his church becuase he is gay. He is now actively embracing both his christianity and homosexuality, an act many fundamentalists preach is a contradiciton.

The point I like the most that Eric writes about is the individual relationship he is developing with God. Eric is discerning Gods word through his own mind and heart, not that of a religious leader. Ultimately, that is what we all need to do.

Exposing ourselves to heatlhy portions of teaching and preaching is most beneficial when we take those lessons or thoughts or beliefs into our own prayer time and discern what they mean to ourselves as an indivdual person.

It matters only what God wants in your life, not what a preacher wants you to be. Hopefully we can all find a church where the messages match up and are not in conflict.

Choices

When I woke up this morning, I made a number of choices. I decided to get up early and check e-mail. I chose to feed the cat and play with him. I stopped for breakfast on my way to work. I made those and numerous other decisions before the sun was fully over the horizon today.

I did not decide that today I would be a heterosexual. In fact, I've never made that choice. Even before puberty descended upon me, I was attracted to cute girls, and that has never changed. It just came naturally.

I was fortunate that, with the occasional objection of an object of my desire, this "lifestyle" was not condemned by anyone. I've never heard a preacher tell me I was a sinner because I was a practicing heterosexual, and I've yet to endure a politician drone on about legislation that would deny me the right to marry someone of the opposite sex. As a result, I've never struggled with my sexuality--nobody every told me my natural desires were wrong, and I've always felt free and unencumbered to express and explore them.

If I had grown up in a home where I was raised by two gay men or two lesbians who railed against heterosexual relationships and told me how dirty and sinful they were, I very well could have run into some serious issues. Low self esteem and sexual confusion would have been among the likely possibilities.

If religious leaders had condemned my desires for women, I probably would have pulled away from God, not feeling myself worthy of his love because of what a dirty, rotten sinner I was at heart. I may have even felt no other choice but to find a nice man to settle down with if I wanted love and companionship within socially accepted parameters.

If I had "come out" as a heterosexual, then renounced it so I could marry someone my church and state found was of an acceptable gender, I would be a "cured" or "delivered" heterosexual, even if the desires were still burning inside me.

If, like me, you are a practicing heterosexual, try to imagine this having happened to you. Pretty horrible picture, isn't it? Then why do so many of our churches and politicians insist on putting gay and lesbian people through this type of living hell? What good can come of a person denying who he or she is and allow themselves to be reformed according to someone else's idea of who they should be? Why do so many people allow themselves to be swayed by statements and beliefs rooted in ignorance?

Fortunately, we can trust God to sort it out in the end.

The KKK and "Christian Family Values"

A while back I wrote about how branches of the KKK are entering into anti-gay activism, and here is another example. On Saturday, November 5, the KKK will hold a rally in Austin, Texas to get voters to vote against gay marriage. The kicker to this story is this quote from the e-mail they sent to ask permission to stage this rally; "We just want to come and encourage people to vote for Christian Family Values."

It is not reported what, if any, group has recruited the KKK to "help out" with their special type of rally. As a Christian, I would instantly lose respect for any religious organization/church that is involved in this campaign that does not clearly and loudly disavow themselves from the KKK. Rational christians can disagree on this issue, but anyone who welcome the KKK to their side of a debate is no longer able to claim that ground.

What Are They Afraid Of?

I saw a story regarding one high school's activity during the recent "Coming Out Week." The Gay-Straight Alliance at Pikesville High School, in my home state of Maryland, encouraged straight students to wear pink in support of their gay classmates. Some parents were up in arms about this and protested at the school, making this newsworthy.

The report, which I found on the Christian Broadcasting Network's web site (Pat Robertson's organization), refers to this action as "supporting the homosexual agenda." Honestly, every time I see this phrase used I'm afraid blood vessels in my brain will burst!

What exactly is the gay agenda? To have the same rights as their straight counterparts? To have the same opportunities to express their love for their partners that straight people do? To not be discriminated against in the job market and workplace because of their sexual orientation? To not be ostracized or the subject of hatred by the body of Christ?

That would make "the homosexual agenda" the desire of gays and lesbians to be treated with the same respect and have the same rights as a straight person. These are not "special rights" as some antagonists like to call them. These are guarantees the LGBT community need to protect their rights as an American citizen, the very rights this nation was founded upon.

Sounds pretty reasonable to me. As great as this country is in many ways, however, it has a long history of holding down minority groups, who emerge from that only after a long, hard struggle. It seems like one of the favorite targets in today's society are gays, primarily because they have the nerve to be different and because a lot of straight people have no understanding about what makes them tick.

So what are people afraid of? In this case, what they don't undestand. Unfortunately, too many people find it easier to discriminate against the LGBT community instead of educating themselves. It's okay to come in contact with them, folks, you won't catch it.

Listen

That seems to be a lost art in our society, listening. People are often too busy trying to convince someone that their point of view is right that we don't make any effort to consider what the other person or people are saying.

This also applies to prayer. It is easy, especially if we lead a very busy life, to talk to God (isn't that the essence of prayer?) and get on with the next task on our long list of things to do. We often don't take time to be still and give Him a chance to respond.

I had a great experience doing just that last night. The leadership of our church met at our new facility, still strewn with construction debris, lights dangling from the unfinished ceiling, and no functioning toilets. After opening with corporate prayer, Apostle Dale was led to direct each of us to pray about a specific area of our church's ministry. We then came back together and shared what God has told us regarding those prayers. It was some truly exciting stuff!

I'm still new at some of this, and I felt the Lord touch me in a way that I could not remember happening before. As I talked with Him about what we needed to reach the lost (the area I had been asked to cover with my prayer), I stopped several times and soaked in whatever the Holy Spirit would send me.

I stood there by myself in the shell of our upstairs office area with only the light from the parking lot providing any illumination. What I saw, though, was Apostle Dale's office, very tastefully appointed, with him sitting there providing guidance and leadership as per his Apostolic calling. I saw myself and others leading small groups in the meeting room, teaching and reaching out to people, helping them open their hearts and minds to be filled with the Spirit.
I've never heard "The Voice of God," but I never felt his presence more than I did last night. He showed me part of his plans for how he would answer my prayers and gave me not only encouragement to stay the course but also emboldened me to give even more of myself to His ministry.

I listened and I received answers. If you are praying without ceasing, you may need to stop long enough to give God time enough to answer them. Praying is a form of communication, and any type of communication is only effective if it is two-way.

The Bible is Not a Play By Play Report

If you gather a group of people together to watch a football game or a movie and ask them to write a summary, it is very unlikely that you will see two write-ups that are the same. Even though there is only one set of facts, it is human nature to filter events through our own set of values and perspective.

In summarizing the game, some would talk about the defense, others would focus on the offense. While reviewing the movie, there are those who would write about the cinematography and others that would give their views on the story line.

It is important to remember that, although the words in the Bible were inspired by God, they were written by human beings. Recently, the Catholic Church published a teaching document including instructions that some parts of the Bible are not literally true.

A key quote from the document, as reported by the London Times, states "We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision."

To put this in some perspective, admittedly mine, there are some fundamentalits that will practically fight to the death to defend the idea that Creation actually occurred in six calendar days, ignoring the wealth of scientific evidence to the contrary. Are details like that really important? Not if you're reading the Bible to seek God's will for your life instead of using it like a textbook.

God's word will not lead you to him like a set of directions to put together a bookcase. You know, insert screw A into slot B. It doesn't work like that. There are fundamentalists who swear by their literal interpretation, in my opinion, because it's easy and they don't have to open their hearts and minds.

There are people with whom I have interacted regarding the editorial content of this site who quote scriptures to point out how I am misguided and how homosexuals are sinners. When I come back with the fact that I have seen gay men and lesbian women who have been blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, they have no answer for that. It gets them out of their comfort zone where they answer everything by quoting scripture.

Don't get me wrong, the Bible is of course the most important book ever written. It contains wisdom well beyond what we as mere humans can understand and the writers could communicate in its full meaning. The Bible as I have come to understand it is a tool that teaches us important concepts about how to live our lives and be more like Jesus. It also teaches us how to grow closer to Him. When we do that, he fills us with the Holy Spirit and it is that Spirit which guides us through our lives.

The rest is just details which, if we are not careful, can take us AWAY from the Lord, particularly if people professing to be christians fight over them.

Equipping the Church to Evangelize and Disciple the Homosexual

That is the mission statement of an organization called "Cross Ministry," founded by an evangelist named Tim Wilkins. He tells a harrowing story of his childhood and a terrible home situation and details how his anger at his father led him to reject masculinity and embrace homosexuality.

After graduating from seminary, Wilkins talks about how he stayed celibate for years and was finally led to met a woman who he later married and now lives a happily heterosexual lifestyle. God bless him for opening himself up to the healing power of the Lord and emerging through the pain and heartbreak of his youth.

Now Wilkins, through his ministry, wants to deliver ALL homosexuals from their lifestyle, believing it is sinful back even when he was leading it himself. He means well.

What is they say about good intentions? Could Wilkins have mistaken deep psychological scaring as a young man for TRUE same-sex attraction, not being born with but developing it out of rebellion or escape or whatever his damaged psyche was processing? Could be, and there can be little doubt there are people out there with similar experiences that Cross Ministry could be of great benefit to.

There are many others, however, who are attracted to people of the same gender not because of psychological trauma but natural instincts. Cross Ministry is merely one of a growing number of "Ex-Gay" organizations that are trying to "free people from their homosexual desires." In other words, these ministries are determined to make a gay or lesbian person into someone who can totally subjicate their natural desires and follow the path that the ministry believes God wants them to. The blog "Ex-Gay Watch" covers this issues in great depth and is an excellent resource if you care to read more about this issue.

In one of the recent postings on the ministry's website, Wilkins writes about the arguement that Jesus did not directly address homosexuality, therefore he cannot be considered to have condenmed it. He correctly points out that, of course, not every word Jesus said was recorded, so maybe he did actually get around to speaking out about that lifestyle and those words just didn't make the cut in the Bible. That could very well be true, but Wilkins neglects the fact that Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit, so if Jesus did speak about homosexuality, God determined it was not significant enough to include in the Bible. I'm content to trust God's judgement on that one.

Wilkins also says that, since Jesus spoke out about "child molestation, domestic abuse, or rape," then certainly he would have condemned homosexuality. Do people who make statements like this ever go back and realize how misguided they are? There is an enormous diference between the sins he lists and homosexuality--the sins are where someone forces their will upon another person. Homosexual acts are between two consenting adults, and I have seen monogomous, loving same-sex relationships flourish with God's blessings within our church.

I hope God will bless organizations like Cross Ministry as they reach people who are confused about their sexual identity and lead them to seek the Lord's guidance to resolve that question. For individuals who find out they are gay or lesbian, I pray that they are delivered from an "Ex-Gay" ministry without any lasting psychological damage.