Here Come the Grooms: Why Gay Marriage Will Be Legalized in the U. S.

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homosexuality, politics, relationships, witnessing

Today’s post is by a guest blogger, W. Todd Weedman. He’s writing to fellow conservative Christians about why it’s our own fault that gay marriage will be legalized. You can contact him at w.todd.weedman [at] gmail [dot] com.

Do not be misled.  It really is our own fault.

Yesterday’s announcement that President Obama has officially changed his position (1) on the definition of marriage really is a milestone for the cause of the LGBT movement.  Though the decision itself is a “personal decision” for the president and therefore does not change anything legally, it does seem to change something about the argument.  This is the first time that a sitting president has expressed such a position, and that grants a new level of authority to the cause of gay marriage.

As the states gradually continue to assent to the legalization of gay marriage, it is going to be very easy for the church to point the finger of blame at the politicians, but ultimately this perversion of the institution of marriage is on our heads.

Questions from a Pastor

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culture, homosexuality, leadership, loneliness, relationships, repentance, Scripture, sexuality, theology, witnessing

This morning, an Australian pastor I follow on Twitter asked me two questions about homosexuality because he’s going to be talking about it to his congregation. So I dashed off this email prior to hitting the gym this morning.

1. As a Christian who has same-sex attraction, what are some of your challenges that you face in your daily life?

Because of my orientation, I develop crushes on guys. This should be no surprise, since guys have crushes on and are attracted to girls all the time…and girls, the same with guys. Two things happen: internally, it’s hard to escape condemnation, especially when the guys I’m attracted to are godly men and that’s one of the reasons I like them in the first place. Externally, it’s difficult to be open about just the reality of the crush situation because I fear that it will push away men in my life who will fear that I’ll crush on them at some point, instead of trusting that I can sort it out in community and with God’s help in my sanctification.

I’ve been bullied by other Christians in a couple of ways. Once, I was slandered by a fellow church-member who thought that by telling the world on my mother’s facebook wall that I was a homosexual and that I’d lied to the elders in order to teach Sunday School and lead worship on Sunday mornings that somehow he’d scored a victory for the truth. The reality was that the elders had known I was gay but celibate and had allowed me to serve and lead because of my repentance. But since I’m not “out” everywhere on Facebook to all of my friends, it was hurtful. The man never did apologize and the elders didn’t take action. I left that church, of course.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

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Christians, fellowship, friendship, Gay Christians, homosexuality, Jesus, loneliness, Mark, relationships, repentance, sexuality, theology, witnessing

This article originally appeared here as a guest post for the GrowUp318 blog. Thanks to Heather for the encouragement and the privilege of writing a piece for her blog.

When the word homosexuality is mentioned in a Christian context, most of the responses one receives will be negative. Gays are usually talked about as “those sinners out there.” But not all who are gay are outside of the purview of the Church. (And by gay, I’m talking about all those who experience homosexual temptation, whether or not they routinely give in to those temptations.) This may not be self-evident to all who read this, so it should probably be said: gay people are among us. They serve on our committees, sing in our choirs, give us financial advice, teach our Sunday School classes, and play instruments in our services to lead us in worship.

Some of them are fully convinced that acting on their attractions would be the unforgiveable sin. Others are doing their best to keep their ‘baser desires’ in check so they won’t be invalidated for ministry. Others are off-the-radar simply because they’re between relationships, but would want a relationship with the same sex if the right one presented itself. So what is to be done with such a wide divide? And how should we as Bible-believing Christians respond?

An interesting interaction

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books, C. F. W. Walther, Calvinism, discussion, false teaching, friendship, Gospel, Law, Lutheranism, Oneness Pentecostalism, Reformed Theology, Scripture, seminary, theology, witnessing, work

Last night, I was working at the store and a Oneness Pentecostal guy came in.  I told him I had relatives that had gone to ABI (Apostolic Bridal Bible Institute) and instantly he wanted to talk, which was cool.

It was a fascinating discussion.  We talked about imputed righteousness, eschatology, holy living, the marks of a true Christian…all in the space of one hour.  I was in it more to hear how he heard my questions and how I might ask them better of someone I’m trying to share the gospel with, so it was a fruitful time.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him, however, that not only was I not baptized “in Jesus’ Name,” but that I’ve never spoken in tongues.  He did get to the point however, where he would refer to himself and me in terms I’d relate to “the invisible Church.” He put a high premium on inspiration (his own) through sermon prep and even at one point claimed to have seen the backside of God in a dream.

The Gospel Is Not Your Story

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experience, Gospel, homosexuality, music, Scripture, theology, witnessing, worship

Many folks in evangelicalism who routinely ‘share their faith,’ go about telling their story.  They talk about how Jesus has saved them from this or that sinful behavior or thought pattern.  Some folks’ sin of choice involves alcohol, some are sidelined by homosexual behavior, others by drugs, anger, or nicotine.  Whatever they wrestled with before, they have the victory over now…all thanks to Jesus.

Here’s the problem: even if we are to grant that God has wrought such life-change through sanctification, this is still not the Gospel. Such life-change is potentially a fruit of the Gospel, but the Gospel and its fruit must never be confounded.  Someone recently asked me to summarize the Gospel.  Here’s what I answered:

That Christ, acting outside of me, apart from my will, died for me in history and that he rose again, giving me his righteousness which covers me like a robe would. His righteousness is always and always will be alien to (outside of) me.

Singing the Gospel to Ourselves 1

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Gospel, music, preaching, Scripture, theology, witnessing, worship

Isaac Watts, the lyricist of such hymns as “Joy to the World” writes in this hymn of Christ, our sacrifice.  The hymn contains all the necessary elements…confession of sin, assurance of pardon, indeed the Gospel itself.