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Can Sexual orientation be changed?
Should Gays be allowed to adopt children?
"Although it's true we are all sinners by nature..."
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- I grew up in a conservative Missionary Baptist Church in North Georgia. After certain experiences I recount elsewhere, I left the Christian faith and continued my quest for the Holy One elsewhere. In time however I realized I had 'thrown the baby out with the bathwater' so to speak, and so returned to Christianity at various points along the Way. One of these periods was during the late 1990's.
At that time there was an upsurge in Church-spawned gay bashing going on (as there is today). I heard contradictory messages from many quarters of the Christian Church that left me deeply troubled. It went something like this:
"God loves everyone..."
"... except homosexuals, God's going to torture them for eternity simply for loving the wrong people!"
This struck me as being terribly unbiblical! But it was explained to that:
"Oh sure, homosexuals can still repent, embrace heterosexuality and be forgiven and saved, but unless they go straight, God will have them tortured for all eternity!"
But... I knew the Bible teaches that:
"For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that [i.e. that faith] not of yourself, it [i.e. the faith to be and stay saved] is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone might boast."
But, wouldn't changing one's sexual orientation be work? Could not a homosexual who accomplish this boast of his/her achievement whereby salvation was made possible?
The only conclusion I can draw from this obvious contradiction is that many (most?) Christians believe that there is nothing a person can do to be saved, that salvation is the absolutely free gift of God, it is not of works nor acts of righteousness that we have done etc. EXCEPT... for homosexuals! Unlike everyone else, they must earn their salvation by denying their nature. It seems to me that anyone who can change such an innate and essential aspect of who they are in order to be saved does have something wherein to boast! They can brag, "I was saved because I had the willpower (or whatever) to become a heterosexual!" But... what does the Scripture say? "... not of works lest anyone might boast."
So, what's wrong with this picture?
I'll be among the first to agree that God can require anything He wants of us! God alone is perfect and God alone has the authority to make requirements on His creation. There's no question there, not in my mind. My question is whether God actually requires this Herculean task of homosexuals. To date I have found NOTHING in the Scriptures to demonstrate this is required or even beneficial.
In the studies on this web page I have covered all the scriptures I am familiar with that Christians commonly use to add this requirement on the GLBT community. If there are others verses I should consider or if you would just like to discuss this topic, drop me a line!
Homosexuality has existed since the beginning of time as far as anyone knows. Throughout the ages, different religions have dealt with it in diverse ways. Many of the early religions had no problems with it. Native American tribes and others tended to celebrate the homosexual orientation as reflecting a dual spirit, an innate spiritual connection with the Divine as they conceived the One, often surpassing that of their one-spirit peers.
The Bible is the final authority for Christians, and so it should be the source of Christian doctrine, and yet nowhere does the Good Book condemn monogamous same gender relationships, even though so many Christians do. No, the hatred and prejudice espoused by Christian leaders like Jerry Falwel, Beverly Lahey, Fred Phelps and others, come from their own innate prejudices and lack of Christian love (I John 4:7-10). Their hatred is not supported by the Bible. Such prejudices espoused in God's Name are driving thousands upon thousands of people away from God. This is not good because Jesus came to draw everyone to God, not to cast them aside (comp. Luke 12:8)!
I'm not currently involved with any church or religious body, which doesn't mean my faith has failed me, simply that at the present moment I haven't found a spiritual community to hook up with in my area. It is very conservative here, both politically and religiously, and in the two years I've lived here, I've yet to find a spiritual community I wished to join. If you live in the Paradise/Oroville area and would like to invite me to visit your church or spiritual group, let me know!
- Many of you know and love Marsha Stevens (Born Again Lesbian Music), the "Mother of Contemporary Christian Music" (and her great song: "...And Jesus said, Come to the water, stand by my side, I know you are thirsty, you won't be denied...". For a few years, I hosted and managed her web site here at AllFaith.com and still handle her guest book for her.
- I think Marsha, who is one of the most committed Christ-like Christians it has ever been my honor to know, makes an excellent point that is applicable here. In almost every one of her Christian concerts she makes more or less the two following statements:
- "I don't think Jesus is sitting up in heaven kicking himself for giving me that song (i.e. For Those Tears I Died) and thinking, "Who knew she'd go lesbian?"
- And 2. "I tell Jesus that anytime he wants to zap me straight he is welcome to do so. So far, he hasn't!"
- And again, my friend of many years Arthur Blessitt, a heterosexual man of God and probably the most devout Christian I have ever had to privilege of knowing; and possibly the most sincere Christian currently living on this planet IMHO (I'd put Marsha Stevens right up there as well). I've discussed this issue with Arthur as we carried wooden crosses on our backs preaching Jesus in Central America and elsewhere. His answer is that gays know more about being gay than he does, so he has nothing to say on the subject, he knows about Jesus and so that's what he preaches: 'Jesus Christ and Him crucified.' That's what matters. Get a person saved, love them in Christ, and let the Holy Spirit of God lead them as He wills. When you have sincere Believers who have walked with God for decades, as have many of the contemporary LGBT Christians, it is not your responsibility to change them into your image of what they should be! If your opinion is asked, share it in love. If you have sincere questions, ask them in love and with respect. If its not asked, just love them in Christ, because it is their own Master will determine if the stand or if they fall, and rest assured, God can make anyone stand!
Gay & Lesbian Rights - ACLU Freedom Files
This is a great vid!
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