Tyler Francke’s new novel “Reoriented” tackles the most divisive issue facing modern Christianity: homosexuality. Through the fictional story of a gay student at a Christian college, Francke offers an engaging and thought-provoking exploration of “faith, scripture and sexual identity.”
1 Corinthians 6.9−10 is often cited as the final word on the Christian understanding of homosexuality. It’s trotted out as definitive proof that not only is homosexuality inherently sinful, but also that homosexuals cannot be Christians. But it’s crucial to read these verses in their wider context and to carefully consider what Paul is and isn’t saying to the church in Corinth. (more…)
The American Family Association (AFA) is in a tizzy because the U.S. Army listed them as a hate group in a training presentation. The Army identified the AFA as a hate group based on information from the Southern Poverty Law Center. (more…)
Today is the public launch of The NALT Christians Project. Modeled after Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project, NALT Christians offers public proclamations that Christians are Not All Like That: that many, many of us believe in full LGBT equality.
I’m proud to be a part of this project, both as a web designer/developer and as a creator of a NALT video. It’s my hope that this project will serve as loud message to those who view Christianity as inherently anti-gay and that it will further the progress that is already being made on this issue.
If you agree with the message of NALT Christians, there are a few ways you can help out:
And if you don’t agree with what we’re doing, then please do number 2 and 3 anyway, because any publicity is good publicity!
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that in an interview Pope Francis said: “Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord? … You can’t marginalize these people.”
This story has spread across the internet as if the Pope has said something ground-breaking about the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality, as if they’ve made a 180-degree about-face and are now open and accepting of gays. But nothing could be further from the truth. (more…)
In a recent online discussion regarding the Bible and homosexuality, one participant brought up the fact that Jesus never directly addressed the issue of homosexuality. To my surprise, another participant claimed that Jesus most certainly did condemn homosexuality in Matthew 15.19: “For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.” (NRSV)
This person claimed that “fornication,” or πορνεία in Greek, specifically includes homosexuality and cited Thayer’s Greek Lexicon as defining πορνεία as: “adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.”
We all have an innate sense of right and wrong, of good and evil. We all have moral law written on our hearts. We don’t all have perfect knowledge of that moral truth and we all fall far short of living up to moral standards, but in general we recognize the universal and transcendent nature of morality.
We know what is sin and what isn’t. We have a deep intuitional realization that murder and rape and theft are wrong. We know that when we hurt another person, whether through words or actions, we’ve done something wrong. We don’t need the Bible to tell us that, we don’t need the church to tell us that — we already know it. This is why the Bible isn’t, and doesn’t need to be, an exhaustive rule book. It’s why the Greatest Commandment resonates so deeply within us — not because it’s something we’ve never heard before, but because it’s something we already knew, whether we realized it or not.
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God’s Gay Agenda by Sandra Turnbull is well-written, thoughtful and hopeful examination of, in the words of the subtitle, “Gays and Lesbians in the Bible, Church and Marriage.” Turnbull’s passion for not only full inclusion of LGBT individuals in the church, but also her view of the crucial role they have to play within the Body of Christ is admirable. Her enthusiasm for the mission of the Church shines through on every page and her deep love of God, her awareness of the Holy Spirit’s work in her life and her respect for the Bible are something the church could use much more of. Turnbull’s optimism for further advancements in God’s kingdom is contagious.
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Steve Chalke — the so-called “Billy Graham of England” — recently came out in support of same-sex marriage. This is huge news. It is exciting news. It is hopeful news.
Chalke wrote an article for Christianity magazine espousing his views — you can read the short version of his article here and the longer version here.
The articles are packed chock full o’ great food for thought. And while I applaud the general conclusion Chalke arrives at, I did find one of his statements to be factually lacking. (more…)
Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not going to comment on the details of the Louie Giglio story. If you’re not familiar with them you can catch up here. To me, this particular non-event just isn’t that important — the presidential inaugural benediction is a symbolic gesture that doesn’t have any real significance in the grand scheme of things.
But there’s an important reminder in all this: Giglio’s views on homosexuality, despite attempts by some to paint them as extreme, are in fact normative for most conservative Christians — who are, by some counts, nearly half the population of the United States. So though one may vehemently disagree with Giglio on this topic, one can’t legitimately marginalize him as representing merely a fringe position. (more…)