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Exodus is Shutting Down, But Jesus Isn’t
Recently, Exodus International announced that it was shutting down. For decades, Exodus was the oldest and largest Christian ministry dealing with faith and homosexuality. But in the past few years, it had become a lightning rod for controversy, and the name had accumulated a lot of baggage. They hoped that by shutting down the ministry, the church would step up and do its job of loving and leading people well. They realized that many churches and pastors are still under-educated about those who deal with same-sex attractions, and some are unsafe. But by having a separate ministry to send people to, they haven’t needed to change, and it was easy…
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THE BIBLE Miniseries: My Perspective
One of my co-workers, a Muslim, kept asking me if I had been watching the Bible miniseries. When I told him that I had not, he said, “You should, you would like it.” “I usually don’t like it when Hollywood does a Bible movie,” I told him. “They usually add all kinds of stuff to it that’s not in the Bible. Like in the movie The Ten Commandments, they made it as though Moses and Pharaoh’s wife had once been in love, which is completely extra-biblical. I mean, the Bible is the best-selling book of all-time, it’s not like they can improve on it.” “No, man, you’ve got to see…
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The Power of a Mother’s Prayers
Jesus’ most famous parable in Luke 15 tells the story of a rebellious young man usually dubbed “the Prodigal Son” who demanded his share of his father’s inheritance while his dad was still alive, shameful enough, but then went off into “the far country” to squander it on riotous living. A modern-day prodigal and his mother have written their story, telling parallel stories from each one’s perspective. The son’s “far country” included drug dealing, living it up as a party animal, and gay promiscuity leading to a diagnosis of AIDS. But God brought both mother and son out of the far country to Himself. Because I am privileged to walk…
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The Seventh Opportunity
The Seventh Commandment states that we are not to commit adultery (Exodus 20:14). When God made the first man Adam He saw that it was not good for him to be without a companion (1) (Genesis 2:18). However, no animal was worthy to be called the helpmate or wife of the man (Genesis 2:20). Therefore, God put the first man Adam to sleep and from his side took cells from which he made a woman, and Adam named her Eve (Genesis 2:21-23. Genesis 3:20). This is the pattern for the nuclear family on Earth – one male and one female united for life (Genesis 2:24). Not two males or two…
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When to Break a Promise
An important part of integrity is keeping one’s word. But are there times when breaking a promise is the right thing to do? I think so. And I think God is honored when we do. We need to make a distinction between giving our word on a legitimate matter—such as wedding vows, signing a legal contract, or even promising to bake six dozen cookies for the PTA bake sale—and making promises that are foolish or sinful in the first place. I know a number of women struggling to disengage from emotionally dependent relationships with other women. Emotional dependency is putting all your emotional and relational eggs in another’s basket, so to…
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A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 1 (Introduction)
In the last year I have talked to several friends, Christian parents, who were concerned about the “education” their children are receiving in college. After all, conscientious Christian parents work all those years to raise their child in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4, Deuteronomy 11:19, etc.), then send those children off to a secular college or university where that instruction will most likely be attacked on every level. When this happens, the child may begin questioning everything about Christianity and everything the Bible teaches. They may begin retreating from parents, Christian friends, church, and Christianity while the parents become sick with worry and wonder how in…
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The Gender Spectrum
When I use the term “gender spectrum,” you might think in terms of masculinity on one end and femininity on the other. We hear men being prompted to “get in touch with your feminine side.” (For some reason, women never seem to be exhorted to “get in touch with your masculine side.” Huh.) But I don’t think that’s the way it works. In Genesis 1, we are told that “God created them male and female” (Gen. 1:27). I think, rather, that there is one spectrum of masculinity and another spectrum of femininity. I also think that God is the one who chooses where on the spectrum babies are born, according…
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Mommy Blogger Outs Her 5-Year Old Son
Last week, a mommy blogger caused a firestorm with her blog post “My Son is Gay” about how her 5-year-old dressed up for Halloween as Daphne from Scooby Doo. Her little boy had had second thoughts about wearing the costume, afraid that people would make fun of him, but she pushed him to wear it to his preschool. “Who would make fun of a child in a costume on Halloween?” she wrote. Well, lots of people. And she was angry. “If you think that me allowing my son to be a female character for Halloween is somehow going to ‘make’ him gay then you are an idiot. Firstly, what a…
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Watching Transformation Happen
Last week I was privileged to attend the annual Exodus Conference along with a thousand people coming out of homosexuality, as well as some family members and people like myself who minister to them. Nothing has built my faith in the power and the loving heart of our life-changing God like my decade-long involvement in this kind of ministry. I got to experience the power of answered prayer as I stood in worship with a divorced couple whom I have known online for several years but met at the conference. The husband had gone AWOL for the past year, choosing to pursue his feelings instead of his identity as a…
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Challenging Oprah
Recently Oprah interviewed Ted Haggard and his wife Gayle. You may remember that Ted, a charismatic pastor of the megachurch he built and head of the National Association of Evangelicals, was outed in 2006 for same-sex immorality. Ted has come a long way in terms of facing his fleshly “inner demons,” but I thought he still skirted around a number of issues. (See former pro-gay spokesman Joe Dallas’ excellent blog on what he wished Ted would have said.) What broke my heart, though, was how Oprah continued to come back to her mantra: “That is who you are!” She SO wanted Ted to own a gay identity, and kept bringing…