I would like to continue to a discussion I began two days ago when I was rudely interrupted by a very creepy threat. I had started a discussion on the bigotry that still remains regarding gays (“Cupcake and Gimpy”).
Please read this blog. It contains very important information for those who are gay or those who have a friend/relative who is gay. I am not gay – but I introduced myself to gay issues when I volunteered at an AIDS clinic in Florida.
TWO TOPICS
1) “REPARATIVE THERAPY” DOES NOT WORK !!
2) What the BIBLE says about homosexuality.
Please read this blog. It contains very important information for those who are gay or those who have a friend/relative who is gay. I am not gay – but I introduced myself to gay issues when I volunteered at an AIDS clinic in Florida.
TWO TOPICS
1) “REPARATIVE THERAPY” DOES NOT WORK !!
2) What the BIBLE says about homosexuality.
1) “GAY
REPARATIVE” THERAPY MINISTRY TO CLOSE
Exodus International, a 37 year
ministry, has decided to close. Exodus International was held by church leaders
world-wide as the standard bearer for converting transgender people to their “appropriate”
gender identity. Church leaders have clung to this organization as “proof” that homosexuality is a choice. Now
its founder, Alan Chambers, is in effect calling the ministry a sham. All they
have accomplished is saddling gays and lesbians with extraordinary guilt and
shame. Some have even committed suicide. This is the shame.
HATE
CRIMES (including speech) It
may surprise you who has protested against hate crime legislation. Leaders of
the church. Why? Because such legislation may bar them from talking against
homosexuality from the pulpit. Hopefully the closing of Exodus International
will remove the scales from their eyes.
Jack Drescher, a Psychiatrist and a
leading researcher of LBGT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual), claims that
conversion therapy is far, far outside the mainstream. He in fact places it on
the planet Mars.
To his credit, Alan Chambers (of Exodus) did make an apology: "I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn't change," Chambers said. "I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents.
To his credit, Alan Chambers (of Exodus) did make an apology: "I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn't change," Chambers said. "I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents.
Video: See excerpts from the Oprah
network: http://www.dennyburk.com/alan-chambers-apologizing-on-oprahs-network/
Video: View ABC report with Brian Ross: http://abcnews.go.com/US/exodus-international-gay-cure-group-leader-shutting-ministry/story?id=19446752#.Udj4SHbD-M8
also see…
http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/june/alan-chambers-apologizes-to-gay-community-exodus.html and
http://exodusinternational.org/2013/06/i-am-sorry/
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2) WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS: Here are the verses in the Bible dealing
with transgender issues. Nowhere does it say that being gay is a choice. It
does name it as sin. But the Bible lists many behaviors as sins!
Lev.
18:22 "You shall not lie
with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
Lev. 20:13 "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their “bloodguiltness” is upon them"
Lev. 20:13 "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their “bloodguiltness” is upon them"
Romans 1:26-28 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.
Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged
in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having
normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did
shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered
within themselves the penalty they deserved. 28 Since they thought it foolish to
acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them
do things that should never be done.
My
comment: The
key words here are “they thought it
foolish to acknowledge God…” In other words, these people did not perform
an act or two – but instead made it their entire lifestyle. Sex addicts
perhaps. But harsh words in the New Testament does not just focus on gays.
Matthew
19:24 says, “I'll say it again--it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich
person to enter the Kingdom of God!"
My
comment: Is there an outcry against wealth in
the church? Of course not. Like the references to lust in Romans 1:26-28, it is
the excessive love of money that is bring warned against here. It’s the love of
money that crowds out everything in our lives – including our faith in God.
Like
Romans 1:26-28, it is those who become completely consumed by these sins to the
exclusion of God that need to worry.
Let’s
take them one at a time:
Idolaters? Who hasn’t pursued idols? Idols are people
we put on a pedestal. This could be a romantic interest, a sports or rock star,
or even a charismatic preacer.
Adulterers? We certainly know many of these. Will they be
banned from the Kingdom of Heaven? Only if they push God to the side.
Effeminate? This likely refers to gay men. But
according to these verse – it has the same standing as other sins.
Thieves? Ever
take a pen from work? Ever take anything that didn’t belong to you?
The
Covetous? Capitalism is based on
coveting. We covet a greater salary, a greater standard of living, a “better”
life for our kids, higher stock prices. We covet good heath… even a good
looking mate.
Drunkards?
Addiction and alcoholism is an anathema to faith. But there is hope in
recovery.
Revilers? This
refers to abusing people with nasty words. To vituperate. “Cupcake” would be an
example.
Swindlers? This unscrupulous
trickery to defraud others. Too many names to list here.
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