Christ, Love, Salvation, and the LGBT People

As a Christian, I have written extensively in this blog on what the Bible really says about homosexuality.  I have used other people's studies, my own studies, theologians, historians etc...
         
           

                    The Favorite Sin of the Conservatives

                     I Have Family Values....Oh...and I'm Gay!

                    Does God Really Hate Homosexuals?

                    What Other Abominations Should We Condemn?

                    Jesus, the greatest commandments and Homosexuality

                    Ruth and Naomi

                    The Bible Says- - - Homosexuality

                    

And several others.  Actually, I had no idea how many times I have written to Christians pleading with them to please do some studying.  When I see people shouting that "God Hates Fags..." or "Homosexuals are going to hell", claiming that it is the Word of God, it truly appalls me that these people think are doing God's work when indeed they are buying into lies to turn people away from Salvation.

I ran across this, the way Christians should behave, the way to bring the Good News to all people, and I was so happy that at last, some Christians believe that God's Word is for everyone.  

From This Blog:  Where is Jonver??

 

This is an amazing photo that captured the moment a gay man hugged a member of a Christiangroup, that came to Gay Pride to apologize for the way the church has treated homosexuals. It’s nice to see people of faith have common sense enough to know that hate and prejudice is wrong. A step in the right direction towards equality and something everyone should learn from. THIS is the kind of compassion that religion teaches, but far too often doesn’t follow. Well done.



Since seeing this photo, a friend of mine had introduced me to more of the story. A man, by the name of Nathan, is the one you see above hugging the gay guy in his underwear, or Tristan rather. Well, Nathan wrote a blog about this day and this moment and what his and his fellow church-goers had done. Here is what he had to say:
I hugged a man in his underwear. I think Jesus would have too.

I spent the day at Chicago’s Pride Parade. Some friends and I, with The Marin Foundation, wore shirts with “I’m Sorry” written on it. We had signs that said, “I’m sorry that Christians judge you,” 
“I’m sorry the way churches have treated you,”
 “I used to be a bible-banging homophobe, sorry.”

 We wanted to be an alternative Christian voice from the protestors that were there speaking hate into megaphones. 

What I loved most about the day is when people “got it.” I loved watching people’s faces as they saw our shirts, read the signs, and looked back at us. Responses were incredible. Some people blew us kisses, some hugged us, some screamed thank you. A couple ladies walked up and said we were the best thing they had seen all day. I wish I had counted how many people hugged me. One guy in particular softly said, “Well, I forgive you.” 

Watching people recognize our apology brought me to tears many times. It was reconciliation personified. 

My favorite though was a gentleman who was dancing on a float. He was dressed solely in white underwear and had a pack of abs like no one else. As he was dancing on the float, he noticed us and jokingly yelled, “What are you sorry for? It’s pride!” I pointed to our signs and watched him read them. 

Then it clicked. 
Then he got it.

He stopped dancing. He looked at all of us standing there. A look of utter seriousness came across his face. And as the float passed us he jumped off of it and ran towards us. In all his sweaty beautiful abs of steal, he hugged me and whispered, “thank you.” 

Before I had even let go, another guy ran up to me, kissed me on the cheek, and gave me the biggest bear hug ever. I almost had the wind knocked out of me; it was one of those hugs. 

This is why I do what I do. This is why I will continue to do what I do. Reconciliation was personified. 
I think a lot of people would stop at the whole “man in his underwear dancing” part. That seems to be the most controversial. It’s what makes the evening news. It’s the stereotype most people have in their minds about Pride.

Sadly, most Christians want to run from such a sight rather than engage it. Most Christian won’t even learn if that person dancing in his underwear has a name. Well, he does. His name is Tristan. 
However, I think Jesus would have hugged him too. It’s exactly what I read throughout scripture: Jesus hanging out with people that religious people would flee from. Correlation between then and now? I think so. 

Acceptance is one thing. Reconciliation is another. Sure at Pride, everyone is accepted (except perhaps the protestors). There are churches that say they accept all. There are business that say the accept everyone. But acceptance isn’t enough. Reconciliation is. 

But there isn’t always reconciliation. And when there isn’t reconciliation, there isn’t full acceptance. Reconciliation is more painful; it’s more difficult. Reconciliation forces one to remember the wrongs committed and relive constant pain. Yet it’s more powerful and transformational because two parties that should not be together and have every right to hate one another come together for the good of one another, for forgiveness, reconciliation, unity.

What I saw and experienced at Pride 2010 was the beginning of reconciliation. It was in the shocked faces of gay men and women who did not ever think Christians would apologize to them.

What I saw and experienced at Pride 2010 was the personification of reconciliation. It was in the hugs and kisses I received, in the “thank you’s” and waves, in the smiles and kisses blown.
I hugged a man in his underwear. I hugged him tightly. And I am proud.

 

THIS is truly heart-warming. I am crying as I write this because I am proud of this man and his willingness to share what he believes, despite the criticism he may receive. After this, even more came together to keep this story going. Someone had recognized Tristan from the photo, and Tristan got in touch with Nathan. These two shared how this moment meant so much for each of them, and that is what’s remarkable. One person meets another, and for each of them, this was a lasting experience and memory.
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What a wonderful story!  This is what I believe Christianity is all about.  This is what I believe Jesus Christ would do.  He would not discriminate.  He would tell them of His love.

Christians vs Gays

Today I read where a teenager, who is gay, said the following, "...I know that God hates me..."
As a Christian, when I read that, my heart sunk.  When did we as Christians fail a whole group of people?  When did we think it was right to tell them that God hates them and their "lifestyle"?  When did we as Christians go from the Great Commission to passing God's judgement onto a people?

I know what Romans says.  It was written by Paul to the Church of the Romans.  I am not here to argue that.  I am not here to argue that the Bible never condemns a monogamous same sex relationship.  I am here to say that as Christians, we have failed to tell a group of people that God loves them.  We are too busy pointing out what the Bible says that we have failed to point out what the Bible says...yes I meant that.

We need to look and see how the Son of God lived His life on this earth.  He ate with the publicans and sinners.  That was the biggest criticism that the ruling religious body of the time had against Jesus.  Jesus chose to hang out with them to tell them of God's love.  John 3:17 says, "God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."  So God's sole purpose of sending His beloved Son into the world was so that they could be saved.

Christians today seem to have forgotten that Matthew 28:19 &20 says Go and Teach ... not go and judge.  They seem to have forgotten that God calls lying an abomination.  They seem to have forgotten that the reason Christians are left on this Earth and not taken to Heaven immediately after conversion is to tell others of Jesus' love, death, burial and resurrection.

My wife and I signed our son up for the Baptist Church Preschool.  Why?  Because we wanted him to learn about Jesus dying on the cross to save him from his sin.  We wanted him to learn about the Almighty sending His Son.  We received a letter stating that the preschool had nothing to offer our son.  We have reason to believe that the reason why is because we told them we are a lesbian couple.  Not one time did any of those people offer to us the Gospel.  The Good News of the Saviour.  

I am a Christian.  I am a lesbian.  There is no conflict.  I have the peace which passes all understanding and the knowledge that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

One more observation/question:  When is the last time, as a Christian, you have picked up your Bible and read it...outside of Church.  When is the last time you actually prayed for the salvation of the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people?  When is the last time you thought to actually study what the Bible really says about it with a prayerful attitude?

The Irony of NOM's Values Bus and the Marriage Defense

When NOM says people are marching in defense of marriage. I tell them, "Go ahead, I am for marriage...marriage for all who desire to get married."

When NOM talks about their family values bus, I say that is great, because American families need values. I am for teaching values.

What I don't like is the assumption that because I am a lesbian, I do not have values and I am against marriage.

I could go into all of the dead beat dad Christians, the Craig List Gay Sex Republicans and the low life pedophile Priests, but I will not. What I will say is this: How dare they make this assumption: heterosexuals have values and homosexuals do not. That is a lie.

Now I cannot speak for all people desiring to be married, but I can say that all a lot of us want is the right to be married, to be able to sponsor our partners, spouses, fiancee for a green card. We want to be able to live our lives and just be... just be free .... like any other couple in the United States of America..... Just be.

Pass the Respect for Marriage Act...Pass the Uniting American Families Act so American can be with "liberty and justice for all".

Maybe the lesbian and gay people should join the crowd at the values bus just to let NOM know, that we, too, have values and are for marriage...marriage equality for all. .... or not. We wouldn't want to feed into the homophobic lies that support the hate crimes and the bullying against our youth or add to the already inflated numbers that NOM puts out...but that is a subject for another blog entry.

The Evolution of "Traditional" Marriage

The idea of "Traditional Marriage" is a myth. At least the Traditional Marriage that people like Maggie Gallagher like to talk about has only come about since about 1968. So all the "hoopla" about this huge tradition, is really only slightly over 40 years old.

Did you know that a wife was not allowed to say her husband raped her? Even if they had been involved in "domestic disputes", even if the husband had put her in the hospital because he beat her, even if there was a restraining order against the husband, the wife could not say that her husband raped her?

You've come a long way, Congress. Now how about giving ALL Americans the right of "Traditional Marriage"

TRADITIONAL BIBLICAL MARRIAGE THROUGH THE AGES

1. Adam and Eve

2. Naomi and Ruth

3. David and Jonathan

4. Esther given by her Uncle in Marriage to the King

5. King Solomon and his 1000 women

6. St. Peter and his wife (yes, that is right the Apostle Peter The Catholic Churches first Pope) was married. Jesus healed Peter's Mother-in-law.

7. The Centurion and his male "Servant"

From where does the tradition of Marriage originate then? Well I "Googled" it several times and all I can come up with is that possibly it originated with the Greeks...the Greeks? However, when I took the word "traditional" out of the search, I was able to come up with a lot more results.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Genesis 1: 27

I don't dispute that God created male and female. I just dispute that fact that people are taking so much of the Scripture out of context for their own agendas.

Do your own real research. Come to your own conclusions.

But don't use terms like "TRADITIONAL" when you don't understand what you are honestly saying.

Stay tuned while I research "nuclear families"

Christian Attorney says, "DOMA is Unconstitutional"

While people may say that they believe in "traditional" marriage (meaning between one man and one woman), they still cannot deny that the "Defense of Marriage Act" is Unconstitutional. The American Family Association's in-house attorney says that while he and many members of his organization believe that marriage should be reserved only for heterosexual adults, the Defense of Marriage Act is "probably unconstitutional."

Here is my question: Exactly what is traditional marriage? They say that it is between one man and one woman. This is a fairly new "tradition". In the Old Testament King Solomon had 300 wives and 700 concubines. Basically, what they mean when they say "traditional marriage" is marriage by what we believe to be Christian standards. Indeed, it seems that the tradition they are speaking of is quite nontraditional.

Most of the "traditions" we associate with marriage are in fact comparatively new. It was only two centuries ago that people began to marry for love rather than for mercenary or practical considerations. Only 130 years ago did men start to lose their legal right to physically beat or imprison their wives. And only in the past 40 years have we established the principle that within a marriage wives and husbands have equal rights in decision-making.

Not until 1979 did the last American state finally repeal its "Head and Master" law, which had given husbands the final say over many aspects of family life. Not until 1993 did marital rape become a crime in every state, overturning the millennia-old tradition that a wife was obligated to have sex with her husband whenever he demanded it.

'Traditional' marriage has changed a lot Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 23, 2006

By Stephanie Coontz

Stephanie Coontz teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College and is the author of "Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage" (Viking Penguin).

So what are they fighting for??? A law that is unconstitutional and defends marriage that is nontraditional. Their reasons? They believe it is the Christian thing to do.

I do not want to take away their Christianity. I am a Christian. All I want to be able to do is marry my same sex partner and have it respected and recognized by the government both State and Federal.